


The King and His Jester

by StrawhatsAndDelibirds



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-04 21:44:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 28,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5349644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawhatsAndDelibirds/pseuds/StrawhatsAndDelibirds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes love can take a bit of time to shine through, because sometimes not everyone is expecting advances. Especially when the flirting's coming from the most popular guy in school.</p><p>Follow me on my tumblr if you have any comments, questions, concerns, or ideas for possible future works at strawhatsanddelibirds.tumblr.com</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Despite both being popular students at their school, Mettaton and Sans never really saw much of each other. They were simply from two different worlds. It also might’ve had to do with the fact that while Mettaton stayed at the parties that other students had and talked to people, Sans either simply took as much food as he could carry and leave or not show up at all.

It was something that Mettaton didn’t really understand about him, but to each their own he supposed. Right now he had to focus on the performance that was coming up. It was going to be incredible and he was going to be the star of the show. His character was such an interesting one and he was really such a passionate guy. It was really an honor to get to play a character like him.

Though outfit wise, he was a little disappointed. Usually he wasn’t one for wearing such drab, though admittedly sharp, attire. The only color in the outfit was the red on the tie, and the rest was black and white. He’d still look good in it, but it wasn’t as eye catching as he liked.

But wardrobe aside (since he knew that despite his best efforts there was no way to jazz up this jazzy character’s outfit), he was excited for practice tonight. Because tonight was finally the night where they were starting to practice with the pit. It was always so much better to sing and dance to live music than it was to pre-recorded songs. They had so much more heart in it that way.

Though he knew he had a duet with whoever was on first trombone. Mettaton still found it a bit of an odd choice to have for an instrumental solo. But it worked well in practice, so he wasn’t going to complain. Whoever it was that he was partnered with played pretty good too. The angle of where he had to be and where the band was made it impossible for him to actually see who was playing. He’d just go see the band director after. If they were really going to nail this, they were going to have to practice. Like a lot.

By the time that practice was over and he had finished putting away all of the stage gear, the band director was already gone. A few stragglers were still left in the pit, chatting and joking around as they put away their instruments, safe one who was using it to add comedic effect to his jokes. Somehow it didn’t feel as though it was quite right sounding on the trombone. But if there was at least one trombone player left, they had to know who was the one who got the honor of being his partner for this duet.

He sat down in the edge of the stage before carefully sliding off. As he walked over, the conversation kept going as the one with the trombone continued to joke and play a wan wan wannn to add effect to his jokes. Needless to say, it didn’t make them any less terrible. The groans from the other students only proved his point.

“Excuse me. You wouldn’t happen to know who’s doing the solo with me, would you? Because I’d like to practice with them so we can have it down perfectly for the show.” He asked, stopping the conversation. The trombone kid looked over. Now that he was closer, he was a lot smaller than he had anticipated, though that might’ve been because of his massive instrument to compare him to.

“that’d be me. you sure you wanna practice with me though? i’ve been told I can be a real pain in the brass.” He grinned slyly, following it up with his joke accompaniment on his trombone. He groaned along with the rest of the few that were still there. Mettaton only felt pity for those poor souls. Lord only knew how many times he had pulled that one on them.

“Yes, well then shall we practice now? No time like the present and you haven’t put your instrument away yet.” He said, instantly regretting it as he saw something in the musician’s mismatched eyes light up and a cheeky grin cross his face.

“sure, good thing it’s still out then. otherwise, i’d be trombone.” He snickered, before playing that increasingly irritating refrain. Mettaton groaned, as did the rest of few that were still there packing up.

“Well we’re gonna get going, see you in science tomorrow.” The trombonist’s friends said as they took their instruments and left, probably to flee what would no doubt be a long string of bad jokes over the course of this short practice session. The trombonist waved goodbye before turning back to him.

“so you’re mettaton, right? the name’s sans, nice to meet you.” Sans… He had heard that name somewhere before. Wasn’t that the name of the kid who skipped to grades but doesn’t look the part at all? He had heard a little about him. Mostly that overall he was a pretty likeable kid once you got past all the bad jokes that he made. Which as it stood seemed like it’d be pretty hard to do, as he had spoken three times and two of them were bad jokes.

“Yes, that’d be me. It’s a pleasure, darling. I think it’d be best if you came up on stage, so that we’ll have an easier time communicating.”

“nah, it’d be easier if i stayed down here so i don’t have to move all my stuff all the way up on stage.”

“Sans darling, you don’t have a very loud voice. It might get a little tough to hear you while I’m up on stage. Why don’t you just take what you need and leave the rest in one of the chairs?” He offered, looking at the younger male, who still seemed to have no intention of leaving his spot.

“then i’d have to make two trips. one to put my chair and stand up there and another to bring my trombone. sounds like too much effort to me. besides, you have a strong voice and you’re the one giving the cues. i can play loud enough so it doesn’t matter, right?” Mettaton sighed. It seemed as though he wasn’t going to make any progress here. For someone who probably had to do a ton of work to skip two grades, Sans really was lazy. He had to have the wrong Sans.

“Alright. If you say so.”

But apart from how decidedly impossible it was to get him to change his ways, practice went okay. He may have been a slacker, but at least he knew what he was doing in his music. Once he was on task, he had great focus and was a pleasure to work with and it was easy to see why everyone who he had heard from had said he was likeable. Maybe he’d even take him under his wing and be like a mentor of sorts. He’d teach him all of his ways and he’d be nearly as popular as he was.

Well maybe not as popular as he was, but still. He’d be a pretty decent second place, and really when you’re compared to someone as himself, coming in first is an impossible task.

His phone buzzed, so he pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was his cousin, asking about when he was coming home for supper. Oh dear, it was already so late? How time flies when you’re practicing with an excellent partner.

“Well, sorry that I have to cut this short, Sans my dear. But I really must be going. It’s been a slice.” He said, hurrying off the stage.

“see ya around, metta” Sans waved, pulling his phone out of his pocket, as the other rushed out of the door. He’d send an apology text to him about how practice was running a smidge late. It was true, but it also kinda wasn’t because this was an unofficial practice and was mostly him getting carried away. He’d feel bad if they thought he was just blowing them off to be with other people and how he didn’t enjoy their time together.

He fished around in his pocket for his keys, only to find that they weren’t there. Silly him, he must’ve thrown them into his purse. His purse that wasn’t there. Was he in so much of a hurry that he had forgotten his thing back in the theater? Really now. At least he still had his phone on him, so he wasn’t a complete disaster just yet.

As he walked into the theater, he heard a deep and gentle voice singing. It was a surprising, yet very welcome experience as he opened the door. He walked quietly as not to interrupt whoever was singing, in fear of making them stop.

Luckily, whoever it was hadn’t noticed him come in and sneak down the aisle. As good at making a scene as he was, it seemed as though he was also pretty good at sneaking around. He’d keep that in mind, just in case that came up again.

Once he was at the front at the bottom of the stage, he noticed that the gentle voice was now going up the opposite side of the room. Looking over, he could see that it was Sans. Surely this was some sort of mistake. This couldn’t be the same guy. There was just no way.

Scanning the room, he was definitively the only other on in there. So by process of elimination, it had to be him with that absolutely magical voice that sent shivers down his spine.

Oh no…

He was in love.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mettaton pretends he's not a nerd.

 

 

There was no way that he was just going to let that little cutie waltz out of his life like that between practices. Sure they were becoming more and more common as the show was sneaking up on them, but really that didn’t give him much one on one time to spend with Sans. It seemed as though he’d have to look into finding him on his own time.

Seeing as that he was in the band and made terrible terrible jokes, Sans no doubt hung out with a nerdier bunch than most of the people he himself hung around most of them time. There was nothing wrong with that, it just meant that he was going to have to get one of his dearest friends to help him bond with someone who had quickly taken up all his free thoughts.

To find a nerd, one had to think like a nerd. And who better to think like a nerd than an actual nerd. Alphys was always a dear and had helped him time and time again. In return, he had helped her a few times. But mostly they watched anime together. There were a few shows that he was quite fond of, but they had agreed to disagree on a certain someone’s favorite show.

Finding her wasn’t all that hard. Originally she had started an anime club, but when she realized how bad a decision that was, she quickly shut the whole thing down and settled for just watching anime on the smart board in the classroom that the club was originally supposed to be in. Mostly it was just her, but sometimes her girlfriend hung out there too. They were most certainly a colourful bunch. And by far she was the biggest nerd on every sports team there was. The second best thing to come out of their relationship, was the fact that together they had some of the most amazing cosplays he had ever seen.

They got along quite well, but he was still more friends with Alphys, and really only saw Undyne when the two were together when he came to pay a visit.

But today, it was just her in the Learning Strategies room.  He really had to find something else for her to live off of than instant noodles. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t well off. She simply chose to eat it most of the time and that was simply a crime. He really should have remembered to bring her something. Next time he’d be sure.

He dramatically draped himself across the table she was sitting at, being careful not to knock over the cup of noodles. He had been a victim more than a few times to the terrible fate of being burnt by one, and did not wish to force the same fate onto someone as dear to him as Alphys.

“Mettaton, you are so lucky that this is a filler arc, and a fairly poor to character one at that.” She groaned, trying to move around so that she could see the screen and the subtitles that his beautiful body was covering without having to leave her chair. Not wanting to be a total pain, seeing as he needed her help and people tended to not want to help you if you were being a total pain in the ass, Mettaton left his place on the table and decided to sit next to her.

“Alphys, darling, I need your help with something.” He said, keeping his voice down as to not completely distract her from her show.

“Sure, what is it?”

“I need information on this total cutie. The only problem is, is that he’s a total nerd and I can’t seem to find him anywhere outside of practice.” She would know the feeling of falling in love with someone who came from a seemingly whole other world. Undyne was practically another species before they found they shared a love of anime a few years ago. There was nothing more touching than a love that conquers all odds. And you couldn’t really blame him for wanting the same.

“Well if he practices with you, than shouldn’t he be easy to get a hold of? Besides, that’d make him the you kind of nerd, not the me kind of nerd.”

“Please Alphys. He’s in the pit and is not the same kind as I am at all.” While they both probably had a passion for music, his was more for the art of acting and theater. This year it just so happened to be a musical.

“I can’t make any promises, seeing as though I don’t know every nerd in the school despite popular belief. So what’s his name?” He couldn’t believe she sassed him. Him, her best friend. Sassed just like some total stranger. His offense was short lived and fake, as he moved on to more pressing issues.

“His name is Sans. He never gave me a last name, though.” Hopefully that had been enough for her to go off of. It wasn’t as if it was a very common name.

“Oh my god. Does he play the trombone?”

“Yes, and he has the singing voice of an angel.”

“Oh my god I can’t believe it. I actually do know him. He’s actually pretty cool if you can get past all his terrible puns. Not to mention that he’s brilliant. He’s actually skipped a couple grades and is two years younger than us. He eats here sometimes and has a pretty decent taste in anime. Undyne’s good friends with his brother and I guess they’re kinda a package deal. And you’ve heard him sing? I’ve been trying for months to try and get him to play this new singing game that I got. It has a bunch of our favorite anime songs on it and I was sure he’d love it, but he always says he’s not much for singing. How’d you get him to do it?” Oh god he was a bigger nerd than he had previously thought. And also could he perhaps be shy about singing? How was it that this total nerd could get cuter and cuter with every new detail he learned about him? Simply unfair. Not to mention that he cared about his family. Positively precious.

“Oh, I forgot my purse after practice and when I went back to grab it, I heard him singing as he left through the doors on the other end. That’s actually most the reason why I fell in love with him in the first place. It’s really a shame he doesn’t do it more often.”

“I’ve never actually heard him sing. His brother has heard him a time or two, and he said he was great, but I assumed that that was just an older brother boasting about his younger brother. Is he really that good?”

“Oh my god Alphys. It was amazing. His voice was like if silk was a sound. A deep and bass-y silk. If I wasn’t so shocked and afraid he’d stop, I would have confronted him then and there.”

“You know I have his number on my phone if you want to give him your compliments right now.” She said, holding up her phone tauntingly. Damn, it was tempting. But really all compliments were better given in person.

“And miss getting to see his face when I compliment him? I think not, darling. You know how I prefer to do things in person.” Besides, it felt wrong to just call him up out of the blue after getting the number from someone other than him.

“You’re right. But good luck actually getting to see his face. Most of the time he has to wear a mask over his mouth. He’s got this immune system disorder so he wears it everywhere. If it helps, I could text you next time he’s in here for lunch.” That poor soul. Why must the cute ones always suffer? Though Alphys had a brilliant idea. He expected nothing less from her. This is why they were friends.

“Thank you darling. You’re a love life saver.”

“Oh, but be sure to bring hand sanitizer or else his brother may lose his mind. He’s kinda a germaphobe.” And seeing as how his brother was, he could understand completely. He would be too if Blooky was in the same position. He’d be sure to remember though.

“So are you going to stay for the rest of lunch? Because I can fill you in with what’s happening in the show. This is the last episode in the filler so it’s about to get good again.”

“Sure, darling. Let’s hear it.”


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

A few days had passed now, and still no word from Alphys on whether or not Sans was there or not. It was really frustrating because now he was going to have to think of some other way to track him down. Perhaps he’d simply track him down after practice and pray that it wasn’t one of those practices where as soon as it was over, he simply stopped existing.

That was perhaps the most frustrating thing about trying to find Sans. He was incredibly sneaky, to the point where calling it sneaking off didn’t even do it justice. What he was pretty sure was happening was that he used his special nerd powers to make a wormhole or something and get around that way. If he was enough of a genius to skip two grades then who knew what he was capable of. And with how hard it was to actually find this tricky little cutie, he was starting to get the feeling that it was either that, or he was avoiding him.

But really, who would avoid him. Darling he was fabulous and easily the easiest student to get along with in possible the entire school. He had tons of people offering friendship with him every day, so what could possibly be scaring him away? The two of them didn’t interact at all outside of practice, and he never really got any feeling that he didn’t enjoy the time they spent together, so what was the problem there? Perhaps he was intimidated by his popularity and was afraid to approach him during school hours. That had to be it.

So maybe he could find a way to be less intimidating. He could try and find smaller groups to hang out with, maybe that was the problem. After all, he was a nerd. And a nerd with some immune system disorder. Maybe the big crowds that followed him everywhere were the problem. Maybe tomorrow he’d find a smaller group to hang around.

And then his phone went off.

Every lunch hour since Alphys had made her offer, he had been hovering over his phone in hopes that she’d finally send the message that he was in the room eating lunch. It was hard because he was popular and he always seemed to be getting messages from one person or another. It had just made his lunch hours more stressful and disappointing than anything.

But not today. Oh no. Today she had sent not only a text saying that he was there, but it was a selfie with him. He was adorable beyond words. He had thought he was cute before when he saw him without his mask at practice, but somehow that mask made him infinitely cuter. It was probably that he drew a little smile on it. What a cute little dork. And they were both throwing up peace signs, what precious nerds. He loved them both. He especially loved Sans’s goofy little skeleton gloves. He had seen them before in practice, but they never got any less cute.

He no longer had any time to waste here. He had to go over there right now before he missed his chance. Everything that he had with him was hastily shoved into his purse before anyone had even had the chance to see what was on his phone. With a quick goodbye, he was out the door and practically sprinting across the school to the room that they were eating lunch.

He could feel the exciting building in him as he was making his way across the school, but he would have to contain himself. He seemed pretty calm and level headed at practice, but this wasn’t practice. Now he was in a totally different element. Besides, it was never an attractive thing to come on too strong. He’d just have to contain himself a little or else he’d make a fool of himself and scare that poor nerd off. And that was the last thing that he wanted to do.

Now at the door, he could feel himself getting butterflies. Now he was just being silly. While Sans was a precious little nerd, he was a human just like he was. There was no need to feel nervous about meeting him in a casual setting where neither of them were doing anything but eating lunch. Maybe they could bond over whatever Alphys had put on today, be it for the show, or against the show.

Hopefully it’d be for the show. Despite rumors that had been spread about him, he wasn’t all that into bagging on things. He never once enjoyed complaining about something not being up to his standard. That was petty and ridicules and only a little true. It was only enjoyable if it was something that you could do together as friends. It was why there were bad movies after all.

But he was getting side tracked. He had to be a big boy and make the first move. Nerds were notoriously terrible at making the first move, and even if he was brilliant, Sans wasn’t a mind reader so he’d have to be clear with his feelings. And he was great at getting across his feelings.

So he knocked on the door with confidence and waited. When the door opened, it wasn’t someone that he recognized. He could only assume that he was Sans’s brother. He wasn’t expecting him to be nearly this tall when he met him. Especially considering how small his brother was, but they did have the same dark skin and his eyes matched at least one of Sans’s mismatch eyes.

“OH! YOU’RE METTATON. I’VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT YOU! I’M QUITE EXCITED TO SEE YOU PERFORM IN A FEW WEEKS!” He was certainly quite an excitable character. It was surprising after being exposed to minor doses of his low energy brother. Though that must be because of that immunity disorder.

“Oh, why it’s a pleasure to meet you, darling. I myself am quite excited to perform in a few weeks myself. You know how it is when the stage calls you name, you simply must answer. May I come in? I believe one of my friends is already in here. Her name is Alphys.”

“WOWIE! ALPHYS, I HAD NO IDEA THAT YOU WERE FRIENDS WITH METTATON.” He briefly turned his head to address the small woman who was currently waiting for her instant noodles to be ready. She gave a nervous wave. “I CAN ONLY LET YOU IN IF YOU’VE HAD ALL YOUR SHOTS. SANS CAN’T GET VACCINATED SO HE’S EVEN MORE AT RISK THAN MOST, SO I HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON’T ACCIDENTALLY INFECT HIM WITH SOMETHING. RIGHT NOW MORE THAN EVER WE CANNOT AFFORD FOR HIM TO GET SICK. HE’S BEEN REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS PLAY AND I DON’T WANT HIM TO MISS IT BECAUSE HE’S STILL RECOVERING FROM SOMETHING AND IS UNABLE TO PLAY HIS TROMBONE.”

It was touching to hear that he cared about his brother so much. It was always a touching sight to see family sticking together like that. It was also precious to hear a big brother care about his younger brother’s interests so. He was so glad that Sans had a good brother like… he couldn’t actually remember his name. This was embarrassing.

“Don’t worry. I’m properly vaccinated and I’m pretty sure I have all the one’s I need.” Sans’s brother narrowed his eyes and looked him over, probably getting ready to make the final verdict.  

“ALRIGHT. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL LET YOU IN. BUT FIRST YOU MUST HOLD OUT YOUR HANDS.” He ordered. So his name was Papyrus. He’d have to remember that. Actually he was pretty sure that had heard Sans talk about him a few times before at practice. They were all good things. It was nice that they got along so well.

He held out his hands like he was asked, and Papyrus quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out some hand sanitizer. Before he could react, it was already on his hands in a goopy puddle. The only way that he could get rid of it without getting gross smears on anything was to rub it into his hands. He would have preferred if he had just been told to go wash his hands, because then he could simply use his own hand sanitizer instead. His smelt so much better than this. Smelling like a hospital wasn’t really high on his list.

Papyrus took a step back to let him in, and then closed the door behind him and returned to his seat. He watched as he sat down next to Sans who had his arms crossed and his head resting on them like they were a pillow. Oh my god, he was asleep. As much as he wanted to wake him up so he could talk with him and get to know him better, he couldn’t. Not only would that be rude and just in general a dick move, but Sans just looked so adorable while he slept. He just wouldn’t be able to bring himself to wake him up.

He’d be fine with watching another show with Alphys, even if it meant also having to listen to the soft snores from Sans and the many complaints about the show choice from Papyrus. Mettaton had to wonder how Alphys had come to be friends with someone so opinionated against anime. Not to mention that he didn’t really seem like the kind of person she would hang out with. Him and his brother had to be a package deal.

And that was absolutely adorable.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because ship fics never have enough happy interactions with people outside of the fic, and this relationship it just as, if not more important.

Practices seemed to be getting longer. At least for him. It made sense because the show was getting closer, and his partner for the solo found it to be a bigger deal than he did. Mettaton did take these things a lot more seriously. He had heard from a few of the other students that he had been doing musical theater and other kinds of plays since middle school, and that he was kinda a local legend on the scene. A few members went out of their way to mention how they were both jealous and felt a little bad for him.

But he was all in all a cool guy. He had been a little over the top on some occasion, but he was never outright mean. Even if he was making him work harder than he would have liked to, but it was something important to him, so he could understand his situation a little better. It worked out in his favor because it meant that he wouldn’t be putting off his practice, because he’d just be doing it then and there. It also meant that he didn’t have to practice later. Practicing directly with your partner made it so much easier in his opinion.

He could stomach a little more work for another week or two. Especially since he did have to miss out every practice on Fridays. It wasn’t something that he had planned ahead of time, but that’s the day he goes in every week for his injections. As much as a pain it is, it’s not really something that he can just avoid. At least it’d give the backup first trombone a chance to practice. And especially because there wasn’t a one hundred percent chance that he’d make it to the performance. There was still plenty of time for him to get sick.

At least he was lucky to have such a patient brother who was willing to wait for them to be done their practice every night. He didn’t really have to wait for them after every practice, but he did. He was the real MVP here. He’d wait in his car in the parking lot every day instead of watching them practice, because he didn’t want to have the surprise ruined for him. It was one of the reasons that he was really hoping that he wouldn’t catch anything before then. Just because every day when they sat down for supper, Papyrus would ask about the play, and how things were going with practice. He was very careful not to ask anything that would ruin the surprise, but rather if everything was going smoothly and if there were any trouble makers in the group that were aiming to make everything more difficult for everyone and if Sans had fun at practice. Papyrus was just an all-around cool guy, and he was glad that he was his brother.

He always texted Papyrus when practice was over, so that he’d meet him at the front doors. It wasn’t so much that his brother parked far away, most of the time it was more so that he didn’t want to walk all that way and it was much easier to just get him to pull up to the front doors. Some days he actually did need it, because some days he was just more tired than others. But most of the time for days like today, it was just because he was lazy.

Even now that it was getting darker out, he could still recognize his brother’s bright red car. He put a lot of love into that car, and you could really tell by the way that there wasn’t a speck of dirt on it, inside, or out. Even when you opened the door, it still smelled like new car, despite how it was over a year old now, and that smell should have long dissipated. Carefully he put the massive case into the back of his brother’s care. He didn’t want to ruin his brother’s pride and joy with his own pride and joy. It was placed on the floor in between the front seat and the back seat, just so that it wouldn’t end up falling and getting dented. It was in the case and it wasn’t that far a drop, but he didn’t want to risk it.

“HELLO, BROTHER. HOW WAS PRACTICE TODAY?” Papyrus asked once he had settled into the passenger’s seat.

*”it was pretty good, mettaton’s really been getting into practice lately, and that’s pretty cool. i had my doubts about him, but I think that’s he’s a pretty alright guy.” And despite his original worries and first few uncertain practices with him, he was starting to like him. If they hung out in more similar circles, he could see them being friends. Unfortunately he usually hung out around a more popular group of people, and they were far too exclusive for him to really get along with. But that was fine. He could enjoy his company now and move on.

“OH, THAT REMINDS ME! METTATON ACTUALLY CAME AND ATE LUNCH WITH US TODAY. IT WAS QUITE INTERESTING. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH HE'S FRIENDS WITH ALPHYS. HE SEEMED AWFUL NICE. WE TALKED WHILE YOU NAPPED. HE SEEMED TO ENJOY THAT ANIME THAT ALPHYS HAD ON. WHO KNEW THAT SUCH A COOL GUY COULD SECRETLY BE SUCH A BIG NERD?!” So Mettaton was friends with Alphys? That’s pretty cool, he really wouldn’t’ve pegged him as that kind of guy.

*”huh, guess i missed a lot of stuff while I napped today.” He mused.

“WELL YOU WOULDN’T HAVE THAT PROBLEM IF YOU DIDN’T STAY UP SO LATE PLAYING THOSE VIDEO GAMES. HONESTLY SANS. YOU REALLY NEED TO TAKE BETTER CARE OF YOURSELF. STAYING UP THAT LATE REALLY ISN’T GOOD FOR YOU. DON’T MAKE ME START TAKING YOU VIDEO GAMES AWAY AFTER TEN. BECAUSE I’LL DO IT!” Papyrus threatened in his way that bordered on mom-like in nature.

*”don’t worry, mom, i’ll be in bed at a reasonable hour tonight. staying up late last night was a mistake. i’ll make sure I get my rust tonight.” He said, waiting to see if Papyrus would catch on.

“GOOD! I’M GLA- DID YOU JUST MAKE A VIDEO GAME PUN AT ME?! I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS! AND TO THINK THAT I’M WORRYING ABOUT YOU AND THEN YOU DO THIS TO ME! YOU HAD BETTER MEAN IT WHEN YOU SAY YOU’RE GOING TO BED AT A REASONABLE HOUR. IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU’RE UP LATER THAN MIDNIGHT, THE TIME THAT YOU WILL HAVE WILL MOST CERTAINLY NOT BE A PLEASANT ONE!” He couldn’t help but snicker at the wild reaction that he got from his brother. He was a really great guy, and if he wanted to, he would sure that he’d make a great addition to the theater team. But he had more pressing matters like the cooking classes he took, and the other classes like fashions and metal shop. It was a fairly odd combination, but it made his bro happy, so he never really questioned it.

Okay well he did question it, but only when the two of them were bickering and Papyrus brought up how he was presently taking two different science classes this semester. But that’s what brothers did. They nit-picked because they care, and sometimes they noogied and pranked each other because they cared.

*”nah, don’t worry. i might even be going to bed early tonight. kinda tired from staying up late last night. might just eat supper, do what’s left of my homework, then turn in for the night.” He really should know better than to stay up late playing games with his friends, but it’s so hard not to. Tonight he’d probably just avoid his laptop all together. He didn’t need it for homework anyways.

“WELL I’M PROUD OF YOU, SANS. BUT SPEAKING OF SUPPER, I WAS THINKING OF MAKING LASAGNA TONIGHT. I’M SURE IT’LL TURN OUT ALRIGHT THIS TIME. I’M ALMOST POSITIVE THAT THERE’S NOT GOING TO BE ANY FIRE THIS TIME.” He said confidently.

*”even if there is, we could always just order a pizza. that pizza place we usually order from has some pretty good spaghetti. it doesn’t have as much love as you put in it, but i’m pretty sure you said it was okay last time you had it.” And it was something to remember, because there was very few times that Papyrus actually enjoyed delivery. He usually found it to be gross and greasy, and he was very vocal about how he felt about it.

“I SUPPOSE THAT WOULD MAKE A FINE PLAN B, BUT WORRY NOT SANS. THIS EVENING, I,  THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL MAKE YOU THE MOST DELICIOUS LASAGNA YOU HAVE EVER HAD IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE! NYEH HEH HEH!” He was glad to see his brother all excited about this. He wasn’t even sure that he was actually going to get to taste the lasagna in question, but he liked seeing his brother like this. He’d be ready to call the pizza place just in case, but he’d be cheering his brother on. Hopefully this time he’d remember that passion was not directly linked to how hot the oven was, because then there would no doubt be another fire and a very unevenly cooked pasta dish and possibly another pan they’d have to toss.

But he was still certain that Papyrus could pull it off this time. It might even be edible.

*”cool. i’m looking forward to it, bro.”


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

Finding a partner in classes like this was nearly impossible. Mostly because a lot of the time they seemed to deviate into cliques and while someone of his popularity was welcomed in pretty well any social circle, it came at a price. And that was the double edged blade of gossip. Every group seemed to have their own secrets and sources, and some groups had even juicier gossip. Partnering up with the wrong person could also prove that instead of the beacon of neutrality he tried to be, that he was aligned with a group instead. And that was the opposite of what he wanted.

Also he knew from experience that there were a lot of bitches in this class that wouldn’t hesitate to drag his spotless reputation through the mud if given half the chance.

But that was the price he paid for being beautiful and popular. The jealousy of the masses was hard to contain. If he had to deal with knowing that there was someone twice as beautiful and infinitely more charismatic than he was, he’d be burning up with jealousy just like them. It also might’ve had to do with the fact that this class had a tendency to lure in that type.

“OH! METTATON! YOU WOULDN’T STILL HAPPEN TO NEED A PARTNER, WOULD YOU?” A familiar voice called out from the other side of the room as everyone split up into their groups.

He turned is head to look at it, and it only took a few seconds to recognize him.

“Oh! Papyrus, right? Why yes I do still need a partner. Are you offering, darling?” Papyrus’s face seem to light up, as he grabbed everything off his desk, and walked briskly over to him and set his belongings down next to him.

“ABSOLUTELY! OUR SKILLS COMBINED WILL NO DOUBT MAKE THE GREATEST PROJECT THAT THIS CLASS HAS EVER SEEN!” There was just something about his enthusiasm that was just so contagious. Before he was just expecting an eighty at best, but now he felt like they could easily get a hundred in this class.

Even if the things that Papyrus tended to make in this class practically screamed that they were made in the nineties. There was just something about the pattern choices mixed with the colours that really made it stand out. It sort’ve showed in the way he dressed too. He was always sort’ve a bold dresser, and apart from that he seldom showed up on his radar apart from noting his outfits. It might also be why his adorable younger brother had an equally odd sense of style. It must’ve been genetic. He sort’ve had a feeling that this might not’ve been the class for him.

But even if it wasn’t, Mettaton couldn’t help but find himself wanting to succeed regardless. Once he got past the heinous patterns that the older man chose, most of the things he made were actually fairly well done. He had a real eye for detail, just not an eye for fashion unfortunately.

“So do you have anything in mind, darling? Because I was thinking something along the lines of a stylish dress. Perhaps a strapless column with maybe an asymmetrical dress.” He said, absent-mindedly twirling the pencil in his hand around.

But while he himself wasn’t really doing all that much other than spit balling, Papyrus had pulled out a binder and a pencil and started drawing out the dress that he had described. It was a rough draft (or at least he was going to assume it was) but it got the job done. The page was promptly removed from the binder and placed between them, and then Papyrus flipped through his notes that he had in his binder.

They were possibly the neatest looking notes he had seen in his entire life. He was both impressed, and a little scared by how perfect they were done. He’d have to ask him how he kept his work so organized later.

“WHAT IF INSTEAD OF STRAPLESS, WE DID A ROUND NECK SHORT SLEEVE? I PERSONALLY FIND IT TO LOOK MORE AESTHETICALLY PLEASING.” He said, drawing out a rough sketch next to the other one. He had to admit, it made the whole dress look cuter.

“My, now don’t you have an eye for this sort of thing.” Papyrus puffed out his chest proudly in response.

“NYEH HEH HEH. I DO, THANK YOU FOR NOTICING, METTATON. BUT THIS DRESS WOULDN’T EVEN BE HALF AS GREAT IF IT WERE NOT FOR YOUR OWN CONTRIBUTION. YOU’VE DESIGNED MOST OF IT SO FAR.”

“Oh you’re too kind. Now for the colour, I was thinking a pink maybe?” Mettaton had always found that pink looked better on him than any other colour.

“I WAS THINKING ORANGE. IT’S MORE MY COLOUR ANYWAYS.” Wait, what? By the way it sounded, it was like Papyrus was under the impression that he would be wearing the dress.

“Maybe we’re having a little bit of a miscommunication here. I was under the impression that I would be the one wearing the dress for when we present it.”

“OH, WELL I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO BE THE ONE TO WEAR IT. IT WOULD SHOW OFF MY ARMS AND BICEPS INCREDILBLY WELL.”

“Well it would make my legs look great, wouldn’t you agree?” But then it went from Papyrus sitting down, to standing next to the chair with one foot on it and started flexing his stringy little arms.

“BUT YOU HAVE TO ADMIT THAT MY MUSCLES ARE REALLY NICE. THEY’D LOOK EVEN BETTER IN THAT DRESS.” He took this as a challenge, and did him one better, by placing his foot up onto the table.

“Look at my legs. Clearly they would be perfect for the dress.” There was a silent tension between them as they stared each other down. It was probably not good that he was butting heads with his crush’s brother like this. Especially since family seemed to be important to the two of them.

“WELL, I SUPPOSE THAT WE DO HAVE ONE OTHER OPTION. AND THAT IS THAT NEITHER OF US WEAR IT. AND INSTEAD WE FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO WEAR THE DRESS.” That was a good idea. That way at least they both lost. He’d maybe fight and sulk with someone else, but he didn’t really want to get on his crush’s brother’s bad side. Because he could make or break their relationship before it even had a chance.

“Alright, do you have something in mind, darling?” He asked, sitting back down.

“WELL SANS OWES ME A FAVOR BECAUSE HE LOST A BET. WE COULD GET HIM TO BE OUR MODEL.”

“That’s a marvellous idea, darling. But are you sure he’d be up for it? Not a lot of men are fond of wearing dresses.” But he was hoping that he would be for it, because Sans would no doubt look great in it. Or at least it’d make him look even cuter than he did right now. And that was something that was something great to think of.

“WELL HE’S NOT EXACTLY FOND OF DRESSES, BECAUSE HE COMPLAINS ABOUT THE WAY HIS LEGS STICK TOGETHER WHEN HE WEARS THEM, BUT I’M SURE HE COULD JUST WEAR HIS SHORTS UNDERNEATH AND THEY WOULD BE NONE THE WISER. BUT REALLY IF HE WANTED TO AVOID THIS THEN HE SHOULDN’T HAVE MADE A BET THAT I’D LOSE AT MARIO CART.” Man those two were adorable. It made him happy that he had someone like this in his life like he had Blooky in his.

“I’ll be sure to bring it up at practice later. You don’t mind that I’ve been keeping your brother late after class to practice, do you?”

“OH NOT AT ALL. MY BROTHER HAS REALLY BEEN ENJOYING PRACTICE, AND HE’S ACTUALLY GROWN QUITE FOND OF YOU. I’M GLAD THAT SANS HAS BEEN MAKING FRIENDS, BECAUSE AS MUCH AS HE HANGS OUT AROUND THE SCHOOL, HE’S NOT THAT GREAT AT MAKING CONNECTIONS. BUT I’M AFRAID SANS WILL NOT BE COMING TO PRACTICE TONIGHT. HE HAS AN APPOINTMENT AT THE DOCTORS THAT WE ABSOLUTELY CANNOT MISS. WAIT.” He paused and looked over at the clock on the wall. As he did, his phone went off. Mettaton wasn’t usually one to pry (okay he was, but he wouldn’t usually be for someone like Papyrus), but he glanced over at his phone.

It was only a brief glimpse as it was quickly opened and a message was being sent in return, leaving the picture mostly obscured, but it was a selfie from Sans at the main foyer of the school. He had to admit, he looked really cute in that picture.

“OH SHOOT. I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE LEFT BY NOW AND STARTED UP MY CAR. I’M SORRY I HAVE TO LEAVE SO SOON, BUT I PROMISE THAT I’LL HAVE A FEW DESIGNS DONE BY NEXT CLASS AND WE CAN COMPARE.” Papyrus said, shoving everything half-hazard into his binder before zipping it back up.

“Oh, before you go. Here’s my number so we can keep in touch.” He passed him his number scrawled across a piece of paper before he got a quick thank you in return as the lanky man left faster than he’d seen anyone go without actually running.

There was still another fifteen minutes left of class, but he didn’t have a partner anymore, so he could just mess around for a little bit until the bell rang. Mostly that meant leaning back and listening to whatever gossip was going on behind him. It probably wasn’t going to be much of anything. The two girls behind him weren’t really the much.

Actually, he was probably just going to play some phone games instead. That was probably a better use of his time anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mettaton's going to accidentally end up with a bunch of unflattering pictures of Sans from Papyrus while they're both waiting around. Because nothing's more fun than taking pictures of the ones you love and sending it to them so they can see it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I have nothing against Papyton. It's one of my few Papyrus ships, it's just that its not the ship I'm focusing on. What I say here is not a statement of how Papyton doesn't work, it's just how it's not going to happen in this particular verse.

 

 

It was only a few days before the big performance, and Papyrus had a big decision to make. It was a decision that had there not been play that everyone in the musical theater team and the small section of the band had been putting so much effort and love in (especially Sans, who to the trained eye was actually really excited to show off just how much practice they had all done for the week that they would be preforming despite the fact that he was still nervous about the whole thing). It would absolutely break his heart if his action had caused a ripple effect that ended up bringing down the whole performance, especially his brother’s duet with Mettaton.

Though on the other hand, it would perhaps be equally bad to string along the poor man who had fallen victim to his devilishly handsome good looks and his charming personality. If the rumors he had been hearing around the school were correct, Mettaton had fallen hopelessly in love with him, and for someone who he valued his friendship so dearly (after only a few interactions between them) and to string him along and drag him into a quiet yet strongly burning passionate hell in which he’d suffer alone with his unrequited love. It could ruin the aspiring star before his career even took off.

He would have to be the bigger man here. He had thought long and hard about it since he had first heard about this. No matter how much he thought about it, and imagined scenarios, he just couldn’t imagine the two of them together. At least not in the romantic sense. By all means he could spend the whole evening imagining all sorts of fun things that they could do as friends. It was when things like smooching and romantic hand holding got into the picture that things got complicated. Pursuing a relationship at this time would just put off the inevitable. And if he delayed this any longer, he’d simply draw him in to a point he’d never be able to escape.

Action had to be taken.

But not in a public place like school. That would be mean. And Papyrus was a lot of things, such as: friendly, kind, caring, excited, charismatic, and enthusiastic, but mean would not be something that would be found on that list.  For the sake of both of their reputations, this would be done somewhere much more private.

Oh! He could invite him over after practice and break up with him in the privacy of his own home. Dad was out of town on business, and Sans would give them the privacy that they needed. He was always prepared with tissues and such, so should Mettaton start to cry, they’d have something to dry both of their tears. It was a genius plan. The only downside was that in bringing him over to his house for dinner could be misinterpreted as them going on a date, and it might accidentally make him fall in love with him even more.

He’d have to do it fairly early on, and he could imagine that would make sure that it wouldn’t be misconstrued as a romantic endeavor this way. If he was going to do that, he’d have to make sure that supper that night would be extra delicious that night as to make it less terrible for him. Because even though he was getting rejected by the man he loved, at least he could enjoy some delicious spaghetti at the same time.

Hopefully Sans would forgive him if it went poorly and ended up effecting the show. But Mettaton was a professional at what he did, so perhaps he wouldn’t let his hurt feelings and broken heart sour his performance. If not, the results could end up ruining lives.

He parked nearby and left the car to meet the two in the lobby of the theater that they were practicing at and that they would perform at. Hopefully Sans would have brought up coming over to their place for dinner like they had discussed earlier when he was driving him over from the school to the theater.

Luckily the lobby managed to block out any sound that came with practice. It was very much so unlike the band room or gym. There had been a few close calls where he had forgotten something important and had to rush past as not to hear anything during practice, or how he had headphones at home for the odd time that Sans practiced. He had only managed to spoil a few notes for himself, as brass instruments tended to hold a lot of power and made it easy for them to go through walls.

He made sure to cover his ears as most of the team seemed to trickle out, but it was still a good half hour before Mettaton and Sans showed up. Even though it had been happening for a while now, he was still excited to see his baby brother put so much effort into something like this. This excitement would probably never wear off.

But at the same time, there was a sense of dread that came with them leaving. Mostly because Mettaton looked so happy. He was completely unaware of the tragedy that was about to befall him this fair evening. So young, so blissfully unaware. But he had to do this. It would be better for both of them.

“HI, SO HOW WAS PRACTICE TONIGHT?” He asked.

“It went marvellously, darling. Your brother is really quite the talented trombone player.” Mettaton complimented. Sans sheepishly rubbed the back of his head in response.

*”man, i’m really not that good. you’re the one who can match my volume and still sound good.” It was good to see those two becoming fast friends. It only brought further worry that what was about to take place would indirectly effect their relationship. And that was worrying. Mettaton wasn’t the one to hold grudges, so hopefully there would be no hard feelings.

“I’M GLAD TO HEAR. OH! SINCE I’M HERE, I MIGHT AS WELL CARRY JOHN FOR YOU, SANS.” Though saying this might have been a mistake, considering the look of quite mortification that it got from Sans, and at the same time it got a look of confusion from Mettaton.

“John?”

“OH! THAT’S JUST THE NAME THAT HE GAVE HIS TROMBONE BACK WHEN HE WAS FIRST LEARNING HOW TO PLAY IT. HE NAMED IT AFTER HIS FAVORITE COMEDIAN.” Papyrus explained. It got a little bit of a restrained chuckle from Mettaton as his brother sunk deeper into his hoodie in an attempt to hide his shame. Whoosies, well at least now Sans would for sure leave them alone in favor of wallowing in embarrassment in his room. This would no doubt result in a retaliation prank, but he’d worry about that later.

“My, who knew that he was so cute?”

“I KNOW, AS GREAT AS I AM, MY BROTHER IS EQUALLY AS ADORABLE. OUR FAMILY SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN BOTH BLESSED AND CURSED WITH THIS GIFT.” It seemed like Sans no longer had any desire to partake in this conversation. His eyes screamed for him to stop. Complimented or not, it seemed like Sans very much so wanted this conversation to be over. “WELL, SHALL WE GET GOING?”

When they got in the car, Papyrus couldn’t tell if Sans taking the backseat was a quiet way for him to reaffirm that he was unhappy with what had transpired, or maybe he was simply trying to be polite to Mettaton as he was a guest. He was hoping that it was the latter. He’d make up for this little misstep on his part later, as he knew full well that Sans needed time to sulk these things over a little bit before an apology would even make a difference.

In the meantime, he and Mettaton spoke of the project that they were working on. They had already made a lot of progress on it so far in class, but they were both excited about how well it was turning out so far that it was still really fun to talk about. It also kept them off the subject of the play, because he was not going to have made it this far only to end up spoiling something for himself. He was going to make sure that every part of this play was going to be as new and exciting to him as it was going to be for the rest of the people who bought tickets. He was still going to attend every show for his brother, even if it meant that he had to stay seated in that theater for hours.

When they got to his and Sans’s home, Sans left the two of them to their own devices and left for his room. That wasn’t really much of an uncommon sight. A lot of nights he simply went up to his room and just relaxed on his own. As much as he himself enjoyed the company of others, Sans needed some time to himself to relax. And he respected that, so long as he did come out and spend time with him from time to time. They often bonded over puzzles or video games, and sometimes the occasional bad movie. He was going to have to find a really bad movie for Sans to make up for this.

But now, he and Mettaton were alone. And now came the time for him to do this. It was now or never. He took a deep breath, and turned his back on the pot of water he was waiting to boil.

“METTATON. I HAVE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT SOMETHING IMPORTANT. SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT.” Mettaton no doubt knew where this was going, as he looked uneasy. He was going to break his heart, but he had to do this.

“Yes, what is it, darling?”

“I’M AFRAID THAT I CANNOT RETURN YOUR FEELINGS. BUT I HOPE WE CAN STILL BE FRIENDS.” There was a stunned silence that rendered the other man completely unable to speak. It was completely understandable. Hopefully he would be able to recover from this.

“Excuse me? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“I DO NOT LOVE YOU AS YOU LOVE ME. I SIMPLY DO NOT FEEL THAT WAY ABOUT YOU. I’VE TRIED, BUT THE FEELINGS JUST WEREN’T THERE.” And then Mettaton started laughing. This was worrying. Mettaton was so grief stricken that he lost his mind. Laughing was the only way that he could deal with the pain that he felt now.

“Oh, Papyrus dear, I’m afraid that all I wanted from you was your friendship. I don’t love you the way you think I do. You’re simply hearing some misinformed rumors. I’m sorry that I laughed, that was rude of me. I’m sure you’d make a wonderful boyfriend, but for someone else. I prefer my boys… smaller and funnier.”

“WOWIE! THIS WAS THE EASIEST BREAK UP EVER. I’M GLAD WE GOT ALL THIS SETTLED. NO ONE EVEN CRIED! THIS WENT SO MUCH BETTER THAN I EXPECTED.” He said, turning from him and returning to working on supper.

“Yes, it’s very nice when both parties are in agreement. Now I have a question for you. Your brother wouldn’t happen to be single, would he?”

“YES, I HE IS WH-“ Papyrus froze. He didn’t expect anything like that. Was Mettaton wanting to know if his brother was single because he wanted to date him? “ARE YOU PLANNING ON DATING MY BROTHER?”

“Well, hopefully. Assuming that he’s at the very least a little bit into guys and that I’m his type.” This was quite the situation. He didn’t want to stop his brother from being in a relationship ever, but he also didn’t want him to be with someone who wouldn’t take good care of him. It would be so easy to get him sick, and that it’d be so easy to break his heart. He never really bother to get in any relationships, so he never really had to worry about any of this before now.

“WELL… UM… IF YOU’RE GOING TO PURSUE A RELATIONSHIP WITH MY BROTHER, I’M GOING TO NEED TO GET A MEDICAL CHECK FROM YOUR DOCTOR TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON’T GIVE HIM ACCIDENTALLY GIVE HIM ANYTHING SERIOUS. HE ALREADY HAS ENOUGH PROBLEMS WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING RESPITORY INFECTIONS AND I DON’T WANT YOU TO GIVE HIM ANYTHING, EVEN AFTER THE SHOW. HE IS VERY FRAILE, BUT GOING TO SCHOOL IS VERY IMPORTANT, BECAUSE HE WILL NO PURSUE EDUCATION ON HIS OWN SO ONLINE CLASSES DO NOT WORK.” He mildly lectured. Was he being paranoid about this? Perhaps, but this was his baby brother he was talking about. He was going to make sure that if Sans was going to be in a relationship, he’d be perfectly fine.

“Don’t worry darling, but from your reaction, I’m going to assume that he does have an interest in guys. So are you telling me that I do have a chance?”

“WELL… I MEAN MAYBE. HE’S NEVER BEEN IN A RELATIONSHIP. AND THAT MEANS THAT YOU ABSOLUTELY MORE THAN ANYTHING NEED TO TAKE GOOD CARE OF HIM EVEN AFTER I GET YOUR MEDICAL RECORD. HE MAY NOT LOOK IT, BUT SANS IS A VERY SENSITIVE GUY. AND IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU HURT HIM IN ANYWAY, YOU WILL GET A VERY VERY STERN TALKING TO.” Now his point has been made. If he proceeds now, then that was all the proof he needed that he cared enough about his brother to continue with a serious relationship.

“Don’t worry, I have no intention on hurting your little brother. Now, would you like a hand with supper? Because I think your spaghetti is burning.”

“OH NO! MY SPAGHETTI!”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. More regular updates will be attempted from here on out. For everything, not just this.

 

 

It was the night of the big performance, and despite the years of experience, Mettaton couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. Sans had missed dress rehearsal, and while Papyrus had said that he was simply getting his weekly injections or whatever it was that he had to get, it didn’t make him any less nervous about his attendance. There hadn’t been any Saturday performances, so he didn’t know if there were any side effects or whatever. He had practiced with Sans’s understudy, but he wasn’t Sans, and they hadn’t practiced anywhere near the amount that he and Sans had.

But soon he finally saw Sans sneak in the back to his spot, he calmed down. This was probably the first time that he had ever seen him without his hoodie. He looked a lot smaller than he had thought that he was. He was still a little chubby, but he had to wonder just how fluffy that jacket was, and how he hadn’t died of heat stroke or something.

But that wasn’t the only thing that he noticed. He just didn’t look well at all, and almost more like a corpse than anything. He would have gone over and asked him if he was feeling okay, but the pit was already warming up and tuning before he could get up from his spot. He hadn’t seen Sans move that fast, but he seemed to be set up just barely on time to start the warm up.

Unfortunately, since they had started their warm up, it meant that he had to do his own warm up, and he couldn’t even sneak over to ask him if he was feeling well. At least there was the knowledge that if Sans really wasn’t feeling well, Papyrus would’ve been back here fretting over him. It must’ve been just the after effects of whatever they pumped into him last night.

As worried as he was about Sans’s well-being, it seemed to be for nothing. Once the performance started, the life seemed to come back to his eyes. As focused as he was on the performance, he couldn’t help but looking back over to him as subtly as he could. And that was a task in and of itself, as Mettaton wasn’t really big on being subtle. But he was performing, so very little glances were really all he could manage. 

Their duet was really the make or break moment. He couldn’t help but feel some butterflies in his stomach as it came up. He really hoped that this worked out, for Sans’s sake. He had seen his fair shares of performances that fell flat, but he was pretty sure that this was this a first or one of the first performances that Sans had ever done, and he didn’t want to have it be a bad one. He certainly didn’t want to disappoint him when he had been so excited for it.

His worry seemed to be for nothing, as it seemed to even go better than practice. That one spot that he himself stumbled over a little bit seemed to just have ironed itself out, and as always, Sans did his part flawlessly. He seemed to remember Papyrus gushing over the fact that Sans had been working hard, and it seemed as though his slacker reputation didn’t seem to be for everything.

The applause for it was incredible. But the most prominent out of it was Papyrus and Undyne. He hadn’t been expecting Undyne to be there. These things weren’t really her scene. If he were to make a guess, he’d say that it was a date and that Alphys was there. But it was equally likely that she was here with Papyrus. The two of them were great friends, and she was pretty easily hyped up, and Papyrus had a lot of things to say about his brother. All of them good things.

But that would be something that he’s think about later. For now he had to focus on his performance to make sure that this performance stayed this beautiful shining memory and didn’t get sullied by him getting distracted.

Once the performance that evening was over, everyone backstage was all aglow with their success tonight. It was an uproar as everyone congratulated each other from the most minor role to the most major. Even the rolls that didn’t get to see the spotlight were getting congratulated by the actors and actresses who did.

Now was the perfect time to go check on Sans and make sure that he was really feeling better. He looked just dreadful when he got there, but now he was looking just fine. But Sans was probably sick often, and was probably an expert at making people think that he’s okay when he’s not. Or was just focused on the play once it started. But either way he was going to make his way over to the back to where the band was making their way in and congratulating each other. It would also be the perfect time to tell him just how amazing their duet was and how he finally got the part that he always mess up on down.

But then there was an unmistakable sound through the uproar. He was certain it was Papyrus and Undyne again. Papyrus being allowed backstage was one thing, but he could only assume that Undyne had muscled her way back. He was glad she did. She was an interesting person to say the least, and she was someone who could take the hype and take it to the next level. And with both her and Papyrus there, it was certainly going to be a great premiere party.

Especially since once he could see them, they were handing out bouquets and congratulating every single member of the cast. There was also a man that he didn’t recognize among them, helping them out passing things out, and he looked way too old to be a student. He simply stayed there and waited for them to come over.

He had thought that the man was going to come for him next, but he simply rushed passed him and straight for Sans. Looking behind him, the man had picked him up and was hugging him. It caught him a little off guard, because given his condition, Mettaton was positive that Sans would just be fine with someone touching him. But there was also the fact that he came in with them, so maybe he was his grandfather or something?

“METTATON! I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT YOU WERE AMAZING OUT THERE! YOUR HARD WORKED REALLY PAID OFF!” Papyrus beamed, snapping him out of his train of thought as he handed him a bouquet of his own. It was beautiful, but it was also plastic. Perhaps a way of making sure that none of them were ruined on the way over, but he was also fairly sure that this was to make sure that no one had an allergic reaction to them. It was considerate, but it also lost some of the charm when the flowers didn’t smell like anything.

“Thank you, Papyrus darling, these flowers are beautiful. But I do have a question before you run off to hand flowers to everyone else. Who is that hugging your brother?” There was a brief moment of panic that crossed Papyrus’s face before he visibly relaxed. That was a good sign at least.

“OH! THAT’S OUR FATHER. HE SPENDS A LOT OF TIME OUT OF TOWN FOR WORK, BUT HE MADE A SPECIAL TRIP BACK SO THAT HE COULD SEE SANS PERFORM. HE BOUGHT TICKETS FOR EVERY NIGHT AND BOUGHT EVERYONE FLOWERS FOR DOING SUCH A GOOD JOB.” Wait their father? But he looked so old. How old was he when he had them? And how small is their mom because their dad towered over Papyrus, and just made his youngest look even smaller.

He looked over and saw them doing something with their hands. Perhaps they were signing at each other? He hoped that their father wasn’t deaf, because Sans did a phenomenal job out there today (and he himself did an equally amazing job, but right now it wasn’t about him) and it’d be a shame if he missed it.

“He’s not… deaf is he? There’s nothing wrong with it, I just want to make sure that he didn’t miss anything. Musicals are lacking without the music, no matter how enticing and lively the cast is.”

“OH, NO. HE’S NOT DEAF, BUT HE IS MUTE. IT IS A BIT RUDE IN PUBLIC, BUT SANS HAS ALWAYS PREFERRED TO SPEAK TO OUR FATHER IN SIGN LANGUAGE RATHER THAN VERBALLY. I DO IT ON OCCASION, BUT I TRY TO REFRAIN FROM DOING IT IN PUBLIC.” So at least he could hear it. That was good. Maybe that was why he didn’t hear him cheer. Or maybe he did, and he just didn’t recognize it? At least now He was over there with Sans so he could tell him directly just how much he enjoyed it. He could tell that just by the sheer enthusiasm in which he signed. That must’ve been where Papyrus got his enthusiasm.

“So I’m guessing you three aren’t going to be staying for the after party.”

“NOPE. WHILE I’M SURE HE’D ENJOY SOCIALIZING WITH YOU ALL, HE STILL NEEDS TO EAT AND THERE ARE FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE AND THERE’S STILL MORE SHOWS TO PERFORM SO THAT’S JUST TOO MANY RISKS. BESIDES, WE’RE GOING TO GO SPEND TIME WITH OUR FATHER. HE JUST GOT IN TOWN TODAY AND I WE STILL HAVEN’T GOTTEN THE CHANCE TO CATCH UP.” Papyrus explained excitedly. It was a little sad to think that their father wasn’t at home that much, but at least he knew that the brothers took good care of each other.

“Alright, well I’ll let you boys have your fun.” He said to the teen two years older than him. It didn’t seem to bother him any.

“BYE METTATON! HAVE FUN AT YOUR PARTY!” Papyrus said, running off to join his family, picking them both up in a hug, despite looking like he’d be unable to do such a thing.

He’d mingle for a bit, before going home with his cousin. Blooky was never one for big parties, but he couldn’t just leave like that. They’d compromise for an hour before heading home. But the whole time they were there, one thought seemed to linger in his mind, no matter who he talked to.

Maybe he should learn sign language.


	8. Chapter 8

Now that the show was over, getting in contact with Sans was going to be a lot harder. Well he could always just show up at lunch again, but that would just get a little creepy if he showed up every time that Sans did. Papyrus knew, so it would only be a matter of time before Sans found out. He had Papyrus’s blessing on the matter, but even if Papyrus didn’t approve, whether or not the relationship worked out was all on if Sans felt the same way about him as he did.

He could now freely ask out Sans if he wanted to, and he wouldn’t have to worry about it getting weird before the show by either being awkward after a rejection, or them being too in love that their practice schedule took a blow. So there was no reason to worry about things like that anymore. But there was just one thing left for him to do.

He had to ask him out in a way that Sans would be more likely to accept, and maybe something to do that he’d enjoy after he accepted. He really didn’t know all that much about Sans, but that was something that he wanted to change. The time that he had spent with him while they were practicing was downright delightful, and the look in his eyes while he was practicing was so passionate and he loved it.

He had a few options on who to ask to help him with this endeavor. He knew that he had both Papyrus and Alphys to help him out. Normally he’d be worried about a helicopter brother giving him false Intel, but Papyrus was just such a genuinely sweet guy. It wasn’t like Papyrus to outright lie to someone like this, even if he was really worried about Sans’s well-being.

But while Papyrus was a great option, as the brothers were close, Mettaton was going to have to go with his and Sans’s mutual friend, Alphys. She would be able to tell him exactly what he should do in order to win the affection of his crush, and what would be the perfect date for him to take him on. She might give him a little sass while she did it, but that was just how their friendship worked. He had done the exact same thing to her when she had told him that she had a crush on the head of the football team, and possibly the only person to ever be kicked out of foods class. There was a lot of sass, but there was a lot of caring under that sass. Basically he was the sassy gay brother that she never asked for.

He hadn’t gotten a text from her that day, so that meant that Sans was not eating lunch with her. So this was the perfect opportunity for him to ask her. He’d ignore the murmurings and the little bits of gossip with his name in it for now, as he had more important things to do. Mettaton was going to find the way to his crush’s heart, and then they could gossip about how cute they were and how jealous they were. Or rather make up stupid little rumors to try and break them up so they could have the tittle with their subpar partners. They were petty and he didn’t care about what they had to say. He was the head bitch here, so he had some pretty thick skin at this point.

Upon his arrival, Mettaton dramatically draped himself across the desks in front of Alphys, who picked up her instant noodle cup, and then faked putting it back onto his chest where it would’ve been had it not for his dramatic posing. It got a scandalized gasp from Mettaton as he equally dramatically rolled away from the offending cup.

“I’m betrayed in such a way, when all I wanted to do was ask you for a favor. I’m hurt. Wounded even.” He pouted, his hand over his broken heart.

“It’s cool that you’ve come to hang out with Alphys and all, but could you move to the left a bit before I kick your ass? And keep it down. We’re gonna see her transform for the first time.” Undyne, who had been sitting there the entire time requested in the form of a threat. It was obvious that this was her first time seeing this one. He had watched this one with Alphys a while ago, and he knew that she didn’t transform until her true love was taken over to the dark side, and she had to take him down in her civilian clothes and then his single tear as he remembers lets her transform because she’s backed by the power of love now. It was a fairly old show, but it was a classic.

But he was getting off topic. He had come here for two reasons, and he’d be damned if he didn’t make it out of here with both. Fifty percent was not going to help him out now. Not when love was on the line.

He did move out of the way, and he had taken the desk next to Alphys. They both waited before they said anything, and simply chose to wait for Undyne’s reaction to a not transformation sequence. Not a word was shared as they watched the surprisingly skinny sports star watch the screen on the edge of her seat. Only to be disappointed when the heroine’s friends came and saved the day, making it so she didn’t have to transform.

He recognized the reaction to the disappointment, as it was something that he and Alphys had shared a couple of years ago now. He had to admit, it was pretty funny. He hoped that one day he could play a role that inspired such strong emotions in his fans. Her angry yelling had ended with slamming herself down onto the desk in front of her, narrowly missing the cup of noodles in front of her. He couldn’t quite decide whether it was cute that they both ate the same food for lunch, or be disappointed that they both ate that crap willingly.

“This is such bullshit! She was that close! UGGHHHHHHhhhhhhh.” Her “ugh” was soon muffled by her arms.

“I’m waiting to see how she reacts to episode number eight.” Alphys leaned over and whispered to him. They both had to hold back malicious snickering, as he remembered just how much it hurt to have her older sister and mentor die in the heat of battle like that. If memory served they had to stop the episode completely to have a full hour to collect themselves and pretend that everything was alright.

“So Alphys, I was wondering if you could give me a hand with something, because I could use some ideas and you seem like the perfect candidate to help me out.”

“Is it about Sans?” She asked. He knew that look in her eye. It was a look of someone who had accidentally got invested in something that was either going to be amazing, or was going to go down in flames around her.

She was probably a little hesitant at first about them, but she probably heard Papyrus talking about their practice schedule and thought about how their personalities meshed and complimented each other. Now she was probably at the self-loathing stage, and he was loving that fact. She had done that to him more times than he could count, and now he was getting revenge.

“So what would be the perfect way to ask him out? I don’t want him to be put in a situation where he feels like he has to say yes, but I’d like a situation that would better my odds.” It didn’t feel like it was that unreasonable of a thing to want. Ideally he’d want him to say yes, but he didn’t want to force him into a relationship that he didn’t want.

“Wait, what? Sans? Really?” Undyne, who had miraculously recovered from her post episode death to question this turn of events.

“Don’t tell me that you don’t find him to be oddly charming?”

“I like the kid, but I’ve also seen him drink an entire bottle of ketchup while maintaining cold eye contact with his brother when they were fighting with each other. Sans is just really weird. I really don’t think he’s your type.”

“Well now I’m just going to date him harder, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. He’s a little cutie that tells bad jokes and has the singing voice of an angel.” There was silence.

“There is no fuckin way you heard him sing.”

“I really think he did. Those two did stay later than anyone else, and Sans is really slow when it comes to packing up his stuff. I think he’s not bullshitting us this time.” Alphys chimed in.

“It’s still really weird to hear a cute little nerd like you swear. I love it.” It was great to see his handiwork still working after all this time. High school relationships only really last a month or so, and this one has been going a year strong. But really now was not the time.

“We really need to get back on topic. What’s the perfect way to ask him out?”

“What you need to do, is find a flirty pun. Or a flirty knock knock joke. But you can’t make it too flirty, or you might scare him off.”

“And don’t make it too subtle either. Both him and his brother can kinda be boneheads.”

“What’s a flirty knock knock joke even? I think you’re just making things up now so I’ll end up with weird google search history.” Mettaton groaned, sinking into his chair.

“Hey, you said it yourself, ‘hes a little cutire that tells bad jokes’. How could he resist you if you told him a bad joke at him first?” Alphys said, nudging her with her elbow slightly to further her point.

“God. Fine. The things I do for love.”


	9. Chapter 9

This felt like this was becoming an impossible task. He had to find the perfect joke that would make sure that he would get what he meant, and not scare him off. But finding the right level of bad was just a really impossible task. He wasn’t sure exactly how bad of jokes that Sans liked, because some of the jokes that he found were funny, were really bad, but jokes that he himself found equally as bad didn’t make him laugh.

He was pretty sure that Sans had taken this chance to get into as many science classes as he possibly could, so Sans was without a doubt really into science. He could probably work from there. He hadn’t even been that aware that he was this big a nerd until he had started this endeavor. It was just part of his charm though. But it seemed that he was no doubt doomed to spend the rest of his life with nerds (melodramatic sigh).

He wasn’t aware to just the extent of how far science puns went, because he never really pegged scientists as a comedic bunch, but yet here he was. Somehow there was just so many different types, and he had no idea what was Sans’s favourite type of science, because right now Mettaton was pretty sure that he was in all three science classes, even after doing the ten level classes last semester. He loved him, but he also had to admit that he was a little afraid of someone who was willing to do that much work at once. He was also a little jealous because since he was doing all this work now, his last year of high school was just going to be a fuck off year because all his main classes were going to be done next year at this rate so he’d have a year of just options and he wouldn’t have any serious finals.

But as impressive and terrifying as his crush was, this wasn’t helping him out with finding out which would be the right one. All it was doing for him was making him maybe a little worried about how fast he was going to burn himself over his passions, and as much as he admired that and maybe over worked himself a little over his own passions, boundaries might have to be set. But it wasn’t his place to do this, so he was sure that if it got to be too much, Papyrus would be more than able to talk his brother out of doing something that would hurt him.

He had half a mind to make Alphys help him with this. But he knew that tonight was her and Undyne’s date night, so that was just out of the question. It pissed him off, but it really was good for her to spend time with people outside of school, and maybe they even went somewhere and didn’t just watch anime at one of their houses again. Baby steps were a thing, but Alphys really needed to step out of her comfort zone a little from time to time.

With a groan, he fell back onto his bed, letting his hand drape dramatically over his eyes for his crowd of no one. He didn’t have to be melodramatic like he was being now, but he found that it helped make him feel better. And he didn’t do half the stuff he did for others anyway. He did this stuff for him and him alone.

He would probably get back to his search later, but for now he just needed to feel bad for himself for a bit. Once he got this out of his system, then he would be fine and he could probably end up doing this without any problem. An hour felt like that was enough time for him to get over this. An hour and then he’d find it without even trying.

But then there came a quiet knock at the door. He knew without a doubt who was at the door, because his older sibling has broken doors with knocks that were more like punches than anything, and his other cousin was somewhere in the middle if they ever chose to actively seek someone out. There was a lot of variation in their family, but somehow they all managed to get along regardless.

“Come on in, Blooky.” He said, still in his spot, dedicated to staying where he was. The door opened and in stepped his cousin nervously. But that wasn’t that unusual for them, they were very shy and he was very proud of them in those moments where they could overcome it to continue on with their everyday life.

“Oh… I didn’t know you were already busy… It’s okay, I can come back later if you want.” Napstablook mumbled into their sweater as he fidgeted with the sleeves a bit. He loved Napstablook, and they were the family member that he got along best with, but they really needed to learn to be bolder. He understood that part of it was out of their control, but he was family. And as much as they fought among each other, they always had time for each other. Even Madstablook and Runestablook who were in college right now and dealing with midterms found time to come to Mettaton’s concert last week. Maddy even helped him with his costume.

“Its fine, Blooky. So did you finish that new album you were working on?” He asked, sitting up and patting the spot next to him on his bed. It took a few seconds, but Napstablook grew the courage to join him on the bed.

“Oh, yes… I think this one… turned out better than the last one.. I think.” It was exciting to hear his little cousin talk about their music like this. They were their harshest critic, and they really made some lovely music. They pulled their ipod out of their pocket, having already uploaded them to it. “I was wondering if it was okay if I played some of it for you.”

“Oh Blooky! That sounds like it’d be marvellous! You can use my speakers if you want. I can’t wait to hear it if it’s better than your last one.” Napstablook nervously fidgeted with the case of the ipod as they moved to put it on the speakers.

“W-Well… I worked hard on it.. a-and I’m not really that sure if its good or not… I just think it’s better.” They hesitated, their thumb over the play button, the song already queued up.

“Come on, Blooky, I’m sure it sounds great. Just put it up there so I can hear it.” Napstablook nodded, hitting the button before joining him back on the bed. It was an odd sort of music, but that was part of the charm. It had almost a haunting tune, and he was pretty sure that that was the tone that they were looking for. It had all the thrill of being in a haunted house almost, but without the visuals. It was chilling, but in the good way.

Mettaton laid down on the bed, and Napstablook laid down soon after. The conversation was soon completely stopped in favor of just enjoying the music so that they could both take it in without any interruptions.

They listened to a couple songs, before the album ended. He wasn’t quite sure if they had started it in the middle of the album, or if this one was just a shorter one. Either way, they had really outdone themselves, and he was going to have to get this album later.

“Blooky your music has gotten so wonderful. You’ve really outdone yourself.” He beamed happily. It was great seeing his cousin smile, because they were really such a sweetheart, and he really thought that they deserved to smile more.

“You really think so?”

“I know so, Blooky.”

“Geez… Thanks Mettaton. So what were you doing before I came in?”

“Oh, I was just trying to come up with a pickup line for this cute boy in grade. I think I might’ve told you about him before. He was that cutie that was playing the trombone in our duet.”

“Wait… Sans?” He couldn’t really remember if he had told them what his name was. It was possible, but he was sure that he would’ve remembered it.

“Yep, that’d be the one.”

“He helped me meet Shyren. He’s really nice, I hope that you two’ll be happy together.” They said, and Mettaton threw his arms around him in a hug. It was great to have his own family support him in his romantic endeavors.

“Thank you, Blooky! I still need to find the perfect joke to ask him out with. And it’s not going nearly as smoothly as I thought it would. Who knew there were so many different kinds of science jokes?” He whined as if a joke would fall from the heaven and bless him with the perfect pick up line.

But something similar happened, as Napstablook leaned over him and took his phone. They were quiet for a bit, as they scanned through the list of bad jokes. He quietly read along over his shoulder as he hoped that he would be able to spot it too. Napstablook beat him to it by highlighting the one that would work the best in his opinion.

“Well… I think that this one would work. It’s kinda bad, but Sans likes those ones.”

“Oh my god, Blooky you’re a life saver! Now could you put back on track 5? I think that that one might be my new favourite.”


	10. Chapter 10

He had to say, this was one of the nerdier things that he had ever done in his life. Sans was really lucky that he had fallen pretty hard for him, because not just any one got this kind of treatment. He found most of the pickup lines like this to be rather tacky and in poor taste most of the time, so he did his best to stay away from them. Mostly because he could do better, and his partners deserved better. But considering that Sans had a soft spot for bad jokes, and he actually enjoyed things like this, he had decided that he’d make an exception just this one time for the sake of love. Because love truly did make you do crazy things.

Getting one on one time with Sans was an impossible task now that practice was over, so he had to come up with a different plan. He had sorta begun to see a pattern as to when Sans ate in the learning strategies room with Alphys and watch anime. Usually it was on the days that his brother and Undyne had foods class and they had made something. And from there he had pieced together that it was roughly every Tuesday and Thursday.

He’d test his theory out today, because it was a Thursday. He had practiced his line over and over again, and he felt like a fool, and he was glad that he was pretty sure that only Blooky heard him make a fool of himself because Runny and Maddy were both locked up in their rooms catching up on sleep after midterms. He’s glad, because they need the sleep and this way Maddy won’t make fun of him for the foreseeable future because of this.

Naturally, Alphys showed up, and Undyne came not too long after that. It seemed as though they were going to have a bit more of an audience that he had originally hoped, but it was one more person, and Undyne was reasonable. And if things went wrong, she could hold back Papyrus. And if things went really right, she could hold back Papyrus. He may have not have had any shows coming up, but he still didn’t want his money maker ruined. It was a completely understandable complaint in his opinion.

He knew that by the way that Undyne and Alphys were looking at him, that they knew that today was going to be the day that he was going to ask out Sans. He couldn’t say that he appreciated it too much, but what could he really say. He had done his fair share of teasing, and he had had tons of relationships that didn’t last long enough for them to tease him about. Now that he thought about it, it was completely understandable as to why Papyrus had given him a talk beforehand, and not just about his medical record. Actually now the medical record may have also made sense now too.

“Sooo… Is today the day you ask the little nerd out? Because I still don’t know what you see in that goober. I mean he’s a great kid and all, but he’s not really someone I would want to date.” Undyne said, making sure that no one was walking in, as not to spoil the surprise and accidentally putting Mettaton on the spot. Even though he could totally do that and ask him out on the spot. He had been practicing a lot after all.

“Well I know you wouldn’t date him, Undyne, darling. You’re a lesbian, and he’s a man. I already know he’s not your type.” He teased right back. He got great satisfaction from the look back that he got back. It was pretty salty, because he raised a valid point.

“You know what I mean. Actually, you know what? I think you’ll get along great with the little nerd. Mostly because you’re both smart asses.”

“That’s fair. I’m glad I got your blessing, Undyne. I trust you’ll hold Papyrus back if things get too rough?”

“Pffft, Papyrus wouldn’t hurt a fly. I’m surprised he’s not vegetarian in all seriousness. He’s just too gentle a guy. The worst he’ll do you lecture you to tears or sleep. And I can’t stop him once he starts. No one can.”

“It’s true. I once heard a mom talk about how vaccinations were the worst thing you could give your kid, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Papyrus ever be legitimately mad except for that one moment. I still think about it and it still scares me a little each time I do. Never before had I seen a twelve year old bust out so many facts and argue a mom into tears. Moms are like the most unstoppable force out there, and he brought one TOO TEARS. And she had done held on for a pretty long time, but really she was no match. No one’s a match for a heated Papyrus.” Alphys added in.

Boy was he glad that he got his vaccination. He’d hate to be on the receiving end of one of those lectures. He wasn’t sure if he waterproofed his make up or not because he was taking gym online so he didn’t need to worry about sweating it off at school on the off chance he forgot to waterproof his makeup. Though he had to admit, he was a little curious as to what Papyrus looked angry, because he seemed like a delight. And If Papyrus was like that when he was angry, then what was Sans like when he was angry? Because Papyrus had the energy to do stuff like this, but Sans was a lot more chill. He couldn’t imagine that it would be very pleasant either. Because anyone you have a hard time imagining getting mad, are always the most terrifying people to get angry.

“Dude, I know what you’re thinking, and just trust me on this. It’s best not to try and provoke them. Trust me.” A warning from Undyne was always one that was worth taking. If she found it to be scary and a dumb thing to do, it probably was. It wouldn’t stop him from being at least a little curious. Because it’s really hard not to when someone says something like that.

But just then, he no longer had to worry about not thinking about that, because he was presented with a nice distraction in the form of what he was actually going to do: Ask Sans out. Because Just then, the door had opened, and in stepped Sans, and behind him was Papyrus with what he could only assume was some sort of baked good maybe?

“SORRY WE’RE LATE. UNDYNE! YOU FORGOT TO GRAB YOUR HALF OF THE LITTLE PIES WE MADE! BUT WORRY NOT, AS I HAVE BROUGHT IT FOR YOU!” Papyrus said, putting the pie with the interesting colours on it, on the desk she was sitting at. It had seemed as though she had regretted her choice in making that combination of food for the pie.

“I think I’ll save mine for later, but thanks Papyrus.” It was pretty clear that she had no intention on eating it. It was also clear that he had no intention of paying attention to that detail.

“OH, THEN YOU SHOULD ASK MR DEERE IF YOU CAN PUT IT IN ONE OF THE FRIDGES IN THE FOODS ROOM SO YOU CAN PROPERLY ENJOY IT LATER!”

“I’ll be sure to do so after class.” She said. She may or may not do that, but that tiny pie was not going to be eaten, he could tell that much.

But enough dwelling on minor details. Now was the time of action. Everything was ready, and Sans was even sitting next to him and waiting for the next show to start, because he had come in just in time for the preshow episode find. Always exciting.

“So Sans, have I ever told you that you’re like a fossil sample?” He asked. This seemed to get the younger man’s attention. It also got a disapproving look from Papyrus to go along with the already amused expressions on everyone else.

*”no, how am i like a fossil sample?” Sans asked, knowing full well that this was some sort of joke, but he could tell that he didn’t quite know what kind just yet.

“Well because I’m like an impatient paleontologist. Because I wanna date you badly.” He said with a wink. There was a collective groan, except for from Sans, who found it to be hilarious. He seemed pleased with the joke, but he didn’t seem like he was going to give him an answer.

*”man, that was a  good one mtt. didn’t think you were the type. guess you had to dig deep within you huh.”

“Well is it a yes or no?”

*”to what?”

“OH MY GOD, SANS HE’S ASKING YOU OUT! IT’S RUDE TO NOT GIVE HIM AN ANSWER!”

*”come on, bro. he’s not actually asking me out. he was just telling me a funny pick up line like friends do. mtt doesn’t do pickup lines.”

“Actually, I am asking you out.”

Silence fell over the room, as the gears clicked in Sans’s head, and he pieced together what had actually happened. The moment it did, all his stuff was instantly thrown carelessly into his backpack and it was slung back over his shoulder. He struggled with his mask to get it on as quickly as possible as he struggled over the chairs that were in his way as he made his hasty escape.

*”i just remembered i have a thing at a place.” He said as he rushed out the door. Papyrus followed soon after in an equally panicked rush.

Well that was most certainly a rejection and a half. Alphys put her hand on his shoulder.

“That’s rough buddy.”


	11. Chapter 11

Well that was most certainly an option. He only made a giant fool in front of a friend who had a crush on him. That probably meant that he messed up a friendship, and with someone who could probably make his life harder at school because he was kinda the most popular kid at this school. He’d never even considered something like this. He had thought that Mettaton would have higher standards than him. Especially considering the people he’s dated and just how many people he’s turned down. It just didn’t make sense.

He had plenty of time to think about this, considering he had picked the farthest place on school grounds to run to instead of somewhere reasonable. At least he knew all the good shortcuts to the front door. It was one of the perks to having friends in pretty well every part of the school, so he had that to make it less of a crazy run over there.

Somehow it only seemed right to run to Papyrus’s car. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but it somehow felt like the right place to go. It was good to lean on and catch his breath now that he’s finished running. It was like the hood was made for this. He needed a moment to just collect his thoughts and catch his breath. And maybe think of a solid plan b, because he obviously messed up here, and he needed to think of a good way to make this less awful.

“WOWIE! SANS, WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT ALL ABOUT? AND WHY DID YOU RUN?! YOU NEVER RUN!” It wasn’t surprising that Papyrus followed him out, what was surprising was that he managed to stay ahead of him. Maybe he tried to cut him off and ambush him? Odds were, because some of those rooms he probably wasn’t supposed to be in either, and Papyrus was never really big on bending the rules.

*“oh, uh, you know bro, just stretching my legs,” he managed between huffs and puffs. Well he certainly did stretch his legs, so he wasn’t lying. It just wasn’t the whole truth. “but now that I’ve done that, I’m feeling pretty tired. so tired i should probably go home.”

This didn’t seem to go over well Papyrus, who simply crossed his arms. Usually he was pretty lenient towards him with this type of thing, but this was probably different because he sorta just made him run down a flight of stairs and out to the parking lot. Even if Papyrus enjoyed being active, he could see why he wasn’t exactly pleased with that happened.

“SANS YOU ARE AVOIDING THE QUESTION. WHAT WAS ALL THAT ABOUT? WHY DIDN’T YOU GIVE HIM AN ANSWER? EVEN IF I DON’T LIKE THE WAY HE DID IT, ITS PROBABLY NOT EASY TO FIND THE BAD JOKES THAT YOU LIKE. HE DESERVES TO GET AN ANSWER. IF YOU’RE GOING TO REJECT HIM, AT LEAST TELL HIM OUT RIGHT. THAT WAS RUDE! I WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU DID THAT, OR I’LL SAY IT” The crossed arms quickly turned into his hands on his hips as the lectured progressed. It was just how he did these types of thing. He expected it, but it didn’t make him feel any better.

Now he was he confused about his feelings, all exhausted, and now he had to deal with the fact that he did kinda just leave Mettaton without an answer, and that even if he didn’t say it, his brother was in fact disappointed in him. So needless to say is wasn’t a good situation for him now.

He couldn’t imagine how it felt to be Mettaton right now. Some nobody band kid just ran off on him after he asked him out. It’d probably be different if he was someone popular or whatever, but he was just this kid. What did he even see in him?

*”i dunno. i panicked? i mean have you seen him? he’s just- bro i don’t even know.” He slide his fingers in his hair to the point where had he not chosen such a baggy hoodie, his face of shame would be nicely framed by his biceps. He didn’t even know what to do. He knew that he messed up, and there was probably no fixing it.

“WELL DO YOU LIKE HIM?”

*”i don’t know. maybe? i never really thought of him like that? i never thought i’d have a chance with someone like that? i mean have you seen him bro?”

“SANS YOU HAVE ASKED ME IF I HAVE SEEN HIM TWICE NOW. I HAVE A FEELING THAT THAT MIGHT BE A SIGN THAT YOU DO. I’M NOT GOING TO MAKE YOU GO BACK UP AND TELL HIM IN PERSON, BUT SEND HIM A TEXT AT LEAST.” Papyrus gripped onto his shoulders to stop him from just sliding onto the ground and sitting there and accepting defeat. Had he not been someone close to him like Papyrus, he would’ve told him to let go. Family and friends got a pass with that rule.

*”can’t”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN CAN’T?! I’M GOING TO BE VERY CROSS IF YOU LEFT IT AT HOME. YOU KNOW I NEED TO BE CONTACTED THE MOMENT HAPPENS TO YOU. I DON’T WANT THE SAME THING TO HAPPEN AS THE INCIDENT FROM TWO YEARS AGO.”

*”no it’s in my pocket. it’s just that he’s probably already changed his mind, don’t worry about it. i’m sure mettaton’ll be over me in the hour.”

This was probably the wrong thing to say, because now Papyrus looked offended on his behalf. It looked like he was gonna learn how it felt to bad talk Papyrus’s brother around him. If his brother wasn’t puffed up from being mad before, he certainly was now.

“HOW CAN YOU EVEN SAY A THING LIKE THAT SANS? YOU’RE ONE OF THE FUNNIEST AND MOST TALENTED PEOPLE IN THIS SCHOOL. I MAY NOT PERSONALLY ENJOY MOST OF YOUR JOKES, BUT MANY PEOPLE DO! THAT’S WHY YOU GET ALONG WITH ALMOST EVERYONE! ITS HARDLY A SURPRISE THAT METTATON HAS IT BAD FOR YOU. OUR WHOLE FAMILY IS GREAT! YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT BY NOW! DO YOU THINK THEY LET JUST ANYONE BE FIRST TROMBONE? ONLY THE GREATEST OF TROMBONISTS AND THE GREATEST OF PEOPLE CAN PULL THAT OFF! AND THAT’S ONLY THE TIP OF THE ICE BURG! I ALSO SEE YOU HELPING OUT OTHER STUDENTS WITH EASIER TO UNDERSTAND NOTES! SO NOT ONLY ARE YOU INCREDIBLE FUNNY AND TALENTED, YOU’RE INCREDIBLY KIND-“ It was really surprising to hear the full rant. He wasn’t even done yet. Man he was gonna really have to watch what kind of jokes he made around his brother, because there were a lot that were at his own expense. This was like a five minute rant that he wasn’t even sure he practiced. He was gonna have to stop him before one or both of them started crying in the middle of the parking lot. It was bad enough that people were already watching.

*”alright, i’ll text him.” He was already fishing his phone out of his pocket.

“GOOD! I’M GLAD YOU’RE DOING THE RIGHT THING NOW. WE BOTH KNOW YOU KNOW BETTER THAN TO DO SOMETHING AS RUDE AS NOT GIVING AN ANSWER. SO WHAT ARE YOU GONNA TELL HIM?” It was truly incredible how he could go from all fired up about telling him how great he was, back to bothering him in a way that only someone like a brother could.

*”i just gonna tell him i need a little time to figure out my answer.”

“THAT’S A TERRIBLE ANSWER.”

*”but what if i don’t like him like that? i don’t want to just string him along like that.” Papyrus sighed an overly melodramatic sigh.

“I SUPPOSE THAT WILL HAVE TO DO. BUT YOU BETTER GIVE HIM AN ACTUAL ANSWER AT SOME POINT. AND YOU HAD BETTER GIVE HIM AN APOLOGY AFTER ALL THAT.”

*”i will and i did. don’t worry about it. and can i actually just leave early today? i kinda wanna lay down after all that running.”

“I SUPPOSE, EVEN IF IT IS ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT BECAUSE IT WAS YOUR CHOICE TO RUN IN THE FIRST PLACE. I’LL UNLOCK THE CAR AND YOU CAN GET SETTLED AND I’LL GO SIGN YOU OUT AT THE OFFICE.”

*”thanks pap. you’re the best.”

“THANK YOU, I KNOW. NYEH HEH HEH!”


	12. Chapter 12

The rest of the day had progressed as normal once he had him settled at home and made absolute sure that he had his phone on him. Or at least Sans went home early normal. He had gone to the office to tell them that Sans wasn’t feeling well and went home. He then went to his classes, and then he saw Sans’s teacher’s after school to gather his homework. Considering he was just being lenient and he wasn’t actually sick, he could still do his homework just fine. It would be good for him because knowing his brother, this whole ordeal would get blown out of proportion and he would spend the entire night worrying about it, and it would be great for him to take his mind off of it with some physics. Because that’s just how Sans was and he wouldn’t question what made his brother happy if it wasn’t hurting him.

But there was one part of his day that did not progress as normal. He had completely forgotten about the fact that he shared a class with Mettaton last block. Given what had happened, things were certainly a lot more awkward. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know that Mettaton had feelings for his brother, because he had come up to him personally to ask him about it. The fact that his brother had neither accepted nor rejected had put a damper on their relationship as friends and teammates. He didn’t even have a good excuse for his brother either apart from “HE’S JUST GETS NERVOUS SOMETIMES, I’M SORRY” Because that wasn’t of any help to any one and they both knew it.

He felt bad that he couldn’t offer more to help him. He couldn’t even attempt to comfort him, because there was still a chance that Sans could accept his feelings and then things would just be weird from there.

They ended up talking about how Sans was doing, seeing as he went home early. Apart from when they were talking about their project that is. They were still at school and that meant that they did have to work on their project. Especially since it wasn’t done yet and they couldn’t just let it go undone during the class in which it was assigned. That was madness and he would not tolerate it.

Though he did have to admit that he did like seeing that the man who wanted to date his brother cared about him. He couldn’t see why he wouldn’t if he wanted to date him, but the fact that knowing that his brother was sickly to this degree and it didn’t deter him any was nice. Hopefully his brother wouldn’t play with this poor boy’s heart for too long and give him a straight answer so they had somewhere to go from there.

But speaking of going from there, he had done just like he had every other time Sans gone home sick. And that is to say he went straight home. He couldn’t just leave his baby brother home all by himself. Sure he had his cellphone on him, as well as a house phone in case there was an emergency and he needed to come home right away, but it still didn’t sit well with him knowing that his baby brother was home alone, even if he was just thinking over his problems very hard.

He’d be quiet about entering the house, just in case Sans had decided to take a nap as he did most days that he came home early. There was no need to wake him so suddenly. Rest was very good for him, even if he wasn’t sick. But he would need to go up and check up on him regardless.

He’d put on hand sanitizer as he climbbed the stairs up to his room, to change into some clean clothes before going to Sans’s room and quietly knock on the door before entering. He’d just take a little peek to see if he was asleep in there. If he was, he’d leave him be or put him in his bed and then go downstairs and get started on supper, and if not he’d ask him about progress on deciding if he does or does not like Mettaton. An afternoon wasn’t a lot of time to think, but some progress must’ve been made.

He did find Sans in his bed, but he was pretty sure that he was awake. His mask had been pushed up his face and his hands were resting over it, so he couldn’t really tell if he was at this point or not, but even Sans wasn’t so lazy as to leave a light on and use his medical mask as a sleep mask. He usually only did that when he was stressed out. He had seen such a thing time and time again around exam time.

Perhaps it would have been better to let him simply work things out on his own, but Sans needed some form of comfort and as his big brother, it was just job to do so. He’d climb over the laundry (which needed to be redone now that it had been on the floor for who knows how long and he’d be sure to remind him of later) and sat down next to him on the bed (which also had laundry on it. Where none of his clothes put away?!).

“So any progress, Sans?” He kept his voice down, as not to startle his brother. He wasn’t quite sure if he knew if he had come in or not considering how deep into thought he could go, especially over something he was stressing over, and he’d rather just get his brother’s attention rather than scare him half to death.

He did jump a little, but not as much as he could’ve. He sat up a bit and pulled his mask off, trying to change his posture to pretend like he didn’t just get startled and that he was paying attention the whole time. They were at home, so there wasn’t much need to worry about him not wearing his mask. They did keep a clean house (except for Sans’s room and his never ending crusade against cleanliness and health, but that was a battle to fight later when Sans was feeling more up for it) so it didn’t matter.

*”welp. turns out i like him.”

“OH! THAT’S WONDERFUL NEWS! YOU SHOULD TEXT HIM RIGHT NOW!”

*”no no no no no that’s a bad idea i can’t just text him that.” Sans protested, grabbing his phone, as if he would be the type to steal his brother’s phone and send the message for him.

“NOW WHY NOT? HE’S WAITING FOR AN ANSWER, SANS. IT’D BE RUDE TO NOT SEND A YES NOW THAT YOU KNOW”

*”i mean i  could. but i’m pretty sure that i already missed my chance and messed it all up. better luck next time i guess.”

“NONSENSE! I CAN TELL YOU FOR A FACT THAT HE’S WAITING ON AN ANSWER.”

*”sorry, can’t. missed my chance.” He really hated it when his brother got stubborn like this. Especially at his own expense. Well if he was going to play this game, then so would he. He would just make it impossible for his brother to deny this.

“WELL THEN IF HIS EXPIRED, THEN PERHAPS YOU COULD SEND ONE YOURSELF. YOU JUST HAVE TO THINK OF SOMETHING THAT METTATON WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE. BESIDES YOU OF COURSE, NYEH HEH HEH.” He teased lightly, pinching his brother’s admitably very pinchable cheeks. He made a slight face as he was stretched lovingly by his brilliant big brother, but continued on and ignored it.

*”i mean I could write him a note. he’s big on theater and notes are kinda dramatic, right?”

“OH! A NOTE WOULD BE PERFECT! YOU COULD SNEAK IT IN HIS LOCKER AND HAVE HIM MEET YOU SOMEWHERE PRIVATE AND DRAMATIC TO TALK IN PRIVATE, WHERE YOU WOULD CONFESS YOUR LOVE FOR HIM!” It was like a scene right from a movie. It’d be perfect!

*”guess i just gotta figure out where to go. i could probably pull a few strings to get the right spot empty enough for something like that”

“I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS WHOLE TIME MY BROTHER WAS A ROMANTIC.” He teased, lightly elbowing his brother, before getting up and preparing to wade through all the laundry on the floor once more.

“I’LL GET SUPPER STARTED, AND YOU CAN GET THAT LETTER STARTED. I WISH YOU LUCK IN THIS NO DOUBT SUCCESSFUL ROMANTIC VENTURE. WINK.” His brother, now embarrassed, was covering his face.

The best part about being an older brother was the lighthearted teasing, no doubt about it.


	13. Chapter 13

To say he was nervous was an understatement.

This was at least draft twelve of the note he was going to leave Mettaton, and he was slowly corroding the edges of the envelop where he was holding it with his sweat. This was already off to a bad start and it wasn’t a good sign of things to come. He could only see this blowing up in his face, but he was too far into this to stop now. Papyrus and like ten other people were involved, and it’d just be a dick move to have everyone stay out of the theater room and then it ending up being for no reason.

Besides, he was standing in front of his locker already and he was too committed at this point to not do this. He just had to do this like he was pulling off a bandage. Just really quick and then it’d basically be over. Except it wouldn’t be over, it’d just be the beginning, but he wasn’t going to let factual statements like that slow him down right now. He had to just get this over with and do it, and then accept whatever degree of rejection he’d get. Besides, it’s not like he was actually expecting to be accepted at this point anyways.

All he had to do was to just slip it in the top part of his locker and then wait for him in the theater room.  That was all he had to do. That and he also had to stop stalling. Stalling was bad, and it was only going to get him busted and really that was the last thing that he needed. That would probably be even worse that just getting rejected. Though it would be a way to just get this over with a lot faster.

But he couldn’t think that way. It’d just be setting himself up for failure instead of just preparing himself for it. And he was also just standing in front of Mettaton’s locker for the past few moments like a creep. It was a shame that he didn’t have any spare envelops, because this one was ruined and probably a lot damper than it felt to him. He just had to bite the bullet and do it.

It required him to go up on his toes a touch to push the note in through the top part of his locker, but the note was in. There was no going back now. The deed was done. He had done it and now he was feeling just a touch of regret about it because now he had thought of at least three better things to have written on that note. He fucked it up.

Welp.

Now he had to go wait out in the theater room and hope the teacher had some folding chairs or something for him to sit on while he waited and tried not to barf. If not, he couldn’t say he was above sitting on the floor. Hopefully it didn’t take too long for Mettaton to find the note and come. And hopefully all the drama kids got his message and didn’t drop by while he was trying to ask him out. This was going to be awkward enough without a crowd. 

There wasn’t anyone near the theater room, but he could hear Papyrus in the distance. His bro was really the best. Here he was, using his lunch period to chase kids away from the drama room for him so he could ask someone out. He really went above and beyond. He was probably the best brother out there, and he felt really honored that he was his.

Now that he was sitting there. He had realized another hitch in his plan. He had completely forgot the part where he had to actually have a date planned out for once he asked him out. He hadn’t gotten that far at all. Now he was almost hoping he’d get rejected, because he had nothing planned at all. And that was just disappointing for everyone involved. Especially after a good part of last night was dedicated to this. He had to wonder if it was too late to try and figure out Mettaton’s locker combination and get the note back and pretend like none of this ever happened.

But despite all of his wishing, time had run out and Mettaton arrived. Another part of his plan that he had completely forgotten about was that he should have someone out there giving him a heads up as to when Mettaton was going to show up. He wasn’t ready for this at all. He scrambled to get on his feet and look casual about this whole ordeal. Even he could tell that he was failing spectacularly. He just wanted this to be over at this point. He was done, tired, and felt like trash.

“I got your note, Sans. What is it that you wanted to talk about?” Now was the time to use words to verbally get the message you want across out. He’s spoken a thousand times before. He could do this now, no doubt.

*”dating?” Great job. Really nailed it. There’s no reason for him to look as perplexed as he did. It was hard to get a message more clearly across. The sign language he had thrown in must’ve really thrown him for a loop too. Why did he do that? Once more from the top.

*”date me?” Clearer, but he still sounded like an idiot. Which was great. That’s really what he was going for. To just get rid of all the doubts that he was in fact an idiot and void any appeal he had as a boyfriend. At least now Mettaton seemed to be getting it a little maybe.

By some stroke of dumb luck, he had actually managed to communicate his message to him. Which was a little unbelievable. What was even more unbelievable was the reaction that he got from Mettaton. He was absolutely thrilled with this verbal train wreck that he had just been presented.

“Oh! Are you asking me out?” How lucky was he that he had found probably the only person on the entire planet that could decipher that mess and be happy with the result he got. Hopefully this wasn’t just build up to break him down even farther.

*”yeah.” He was really keeping this conversation afloat. Good job Sans, you’re really showing him you have a way with words. That’ll impress him.

But he didn’t seem too bothered by the fact that this entire conversation had been a total bust aside from what he had contributed. He happily took his hands and held them. His hands were really soft, and dry compared to his own. His hands were so sweaty this was a total mess.

“I’d be honored to date a cutie like you.”

A sound escaped him, but it wasn’t one he made. It was as if the force of that complement that he wasn’t expected knocked the wind right out of him and made him wheeze. But he didn’t make the noise himself. It simply happened on its own.

“I did ask you out first. You could’ve just texted me a yes. But I’m very flattered that you’d put in so much work for little ol me. What you did was very sweet.” He should’ve just listen to Papyrus. This could’ve been so much easier.

*”so does that mean dating me yes?” That was some great English on his part. Especially considering that it was his native language. How was this actually working?

“Yes, it does mean that dating you yes.” Mettaton chuckled, giving him a little peck on the forehead. He was in no way ready for this and it was a foolish move on his end to think he was ready for a relationship. But at the same time he couldn’t say that he hated this. It was actually very nice minus the fact that it felt like his entire stomach was in his throat.

*”i don’t have a date planned i forgot that important part and i’m sorry.” Finally some words that he wanted to say were being said. They came out rushed, but they were actual words, so that was progress and that was good.

“Well I could always just come over to your house and we could watch a movie together. That way your brother wouldn’t spend the entire time worrying about you.” He probably spared him the ‘and you’ll be more comfortable’ because he doubted that Papyrus didn’t tell him that this would be his first date. But that actually sounded pretty nice.

*”that sounds good that’s a good date.” His jumbled together. When you can’t decide on one, why not just say both?

“Great. This Saturday sound good?”

*”it sounds great.”

“So I’ll see you then?”

*”yeah.” 


	14. Chapter 14

He had been sitting on the results of the whole note ordeal until they were in the car. He knew that Papyrus was waiting to hear the results, because there was no doubt that he had already heard that it went well, but it was a lot different hearing it from someone who was there. Especially because there were a ton of rumors flying around the school at any given time. It still felt weird that the fact that them talking about him dating Mettaton and him smoking pot and coming to school high felt about the same level of rumor and wrong, but now one of them was true and not even he could fully believe it.

It being a Friday meant that he did get to duck out of class early to go get his injections, but all he could think about was how Saturday felt both an eternity away, and like it was going to happen soon. He knew that there was only so long he could keep this fact to himself. Not only because Papyrus was his brother and the one who looked after him nine times out of ten, but also because he kept looking over at him with an excited grin. Now it was time for that bomb to be dropped.

*”so, uh, got some news.”

“WHAT KIND OF NEWS?”

*”me and mettaton are kinda dating, and he’s coming over tomorrow to watch a movie.” He watched as Papyrus did that thing where he went all bug eyed, and ended up swerving just a touch. Maybe he should’ve waited til they were parked, or at least a red light. Oops.

“TOMORROW? YOU HAVE A DATE TOMORROW?!” He sounded nearly as panicked as he felt. Was he missing something? Because he was sure that their house was nice and clean, and even Papyrus standards clean. He didn’t think that they had any plans for tomorrow either.

*”yeah? something the matter, pap?”

“YES SOMETHING IS MOST CERTAINLY THE MATTER! ALL YOUR CLOTHES ARE IN A PILE ON THE FLOOR! YOU CAN’T GO ON A DATE WITH WRINKLY CLOTHES. ESPECIALLY NOT CLOTHES THAT WRINKLY!”

*”but all my clothes are wrinkly anyways. i don’t think he cares.”

“BUT IT SHOWS THAT YOU CARE! SOMETIMES THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS ARE THE ONES YOU SHOW AND NOT THE ONES YOU SAY!”

*”pap i’m sure it’s fine.”

“IT IS NOT FINE! I’LL GET YOUR LAUNDRY STARTED AND WE’RE GETTING IT ALL DONE AND PUT AWAY NICELY, AND THEN WE’RE GOING TO PICK OUT THE PERFECT OUTFIT FOR YOU FOR YOUR DATE! YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY, SANS. CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN.”

*”pap i don’t think we have time to wash all of my clothes.”

“I KNOW! THAT’S WHY I’M SO WORRIED!” This had already escalated so far out of his control already. He knew that Papyrus was just trying to help, and he also had a feeling that this also had to do with how he was eyeing all of the laundry he still had to do last night when he was in his room.

*”pap its fine, he’s not going to be in my room so it won’t matter.”

“BUT HE’LL BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR ROOM AND I’LL KNOW HOW BAD IT IS. SANS THERE’S NO TIME TO ARGUE WE’VE GOT TO DO LIKE FIVE LOADS OF LAUNDRY WHEN WE GET BACK.”

*”pap when are you going to sleep that’s a solid six hours.” Or more depending on how sassy their washing machine was feeling like being. It had a tendency to flat out lie about how much time was left until it was done. Papyrus could just end up stay up the entire night doing laundry. They were not having a redo of what was happened last year when they were invited to their father’s Christmas party. That was absolutely not happening again.

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I’LL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO SLEEP.”

*”okay but we both know you’ll be up and cleaning the house at three in the morning again and you refuse to sleep in past seven so that’s going to be less than four hours sleep and that’s being generous.”

“I’M NOT GOING TO BE UP PAST ELEVEN AND YOU KNOW IT.”

*”bro there’s not enough time for you to get the house as clean as you want it before tomorrow.” There was a moment of silence in the car. Papyrus was thinking of something. He wasn’t quite sure what it was yet, but he knew he was thinking of something. He wasn’t quite sure if he like the idea of his bro plotting either.

“HOW ABOUT YOU STAY THERE AT THE HOSPITAL WHILE YOU’RE WAITING FOR YOUR TRANSFUSION TO FINISH, I GO HOME AND GET STARTED CLEANING, YOU TEXT ME WHEN YOU’RE ALSMOST DONE, AND WE CAN PICK UP SOMETHING TO EAT ON OUR WAY HOME.” His bro was really out of control, but he knew that by the time he got home that everything would be spotless so he would be able to just fall asleep at a reasonable time. At most he’d probably end up going to bed at one. Six was a lot better than four, so he’d give him that much at least. His bro didn’t really need much sleep to begin with anyways.

*”I guess that’d work. so long as we get to order something in tomorrow too.” He didn’t want Papyrus over working himself for the sake of his date after all. He could use a day of rest after what was going to be no doubt a hard evening’s work. There was an annoyed humming as Papyrus thought this over. He was already committed to the idea, and now he was stuck trying to compromise with his brother over it, and that was no doubt hard for him. He absolutely hated fast food and two nights in a row might have been pushing it a little too much, but it was needed.

“I SUPPOSE I’LL LET IT GO JUST THIS ONE TIME. BUT IN RETURN I’LL NEED YOU TO ACTUALLY TRY IN GYM FOR THE NEXT LITTLE BIT. EITHER THAT OR YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO JOIN ME IN MY EARLY MORNING JOGS AT LEAST TWICE. YOU’RE GOING TO BE PUTTING A LOT OF JUNK INTO YOUR BODY AND YOU’RE GOING TO NEED TO WORK IT OFF.” That was a fair enough answer. He couldn’t really say no because he would be making his bro work himself to the bone otherwise. He couldn’t do that, especially with all that he’s doing for him right now. He’d end this bargaining train before it got too out of hand. He wasn’t about to bargain his bro’s bargain on his bargain on his bargain. He also had nothing else to really add. His brother was nice enough to at least take it easy on him when they went out jogging together, so that wouldn’t be too horrible, even if it did mean getting up early in the morning and leaving the house a few hours before he’s used to.

*”alright. i guess i can live with that.”

“GOOD. ARE YOU SURE YOU’LL BE FINE ON YOUR OWN UNTIL I GET THERE? I CAN ALWAYS STAY A BIT UNTIL YOU’RE SETTLED.”

*”don’t worry about me, pap. i’ve gotten it on my own before. besides, there’s going to be the doctors there and i have my phone. i’ll be fine.” He reassured.

“YOU CAN JUST TEXT ME IF YOU NEED ME, OKAY?”

*”okay.”

The next two hours were pretty uneventful. They stuck the needle in his arm, and he didn’t really have much else to do but mess around on his phone. It wasn’t that uncommon to see someone like Mettaton gush over not being ready for a date, but it was weird knowing that he was the one he was dating. It was so weird and he could barely wrap his head around it. But it remained a fact that he was going to have to deal with. It was kinda nice that neither of them were ready for the date. Hopefully it meant that he wouldn’t be the only one awkward on the date. He couldn’t help but wonder if he knew that he didn’t really care how nice his clothes were, so long as he showed up and they had a good time.

It wasn’t shocking to see Papyrus dressed the way he was when he picked him up. It did surprise a few of the nurses there, because since he had gone home he had changed into cleaning clothes and had a headband to keep his hair back. It was certainly a change since he was the brother that actually cared about his looks.

“SO HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT TO WEAR YET?”

*”no, should i have?”

“OH MY GOD SANS. YOU’RE LUCKY I HAVE BEEN BUSY AND HAVE COMPOSED A FEW OUTFITS FOR YOU TO CHOOSE FROM.”

*”thanks pap.”

“YOU’RE VERY WELCOME.”


	15. Chapter 15

The problem wasn’t so much that he hadn’t dated before. It was more that he hadn’t dated anyone quite as flighty as he was. Sans was certainly a confident character, but that only seemed limited to when he was in his element and knew what to expect. He seemed quite panicked an unsure, but that probably had to with his lack of knowledge on the subject. That was why he had offered for them to have the date at his home where things were far more familiar. He remembered doing something like that in his early years of dating. By this point he was a seasoned vet. And with a boy as cute as he, he’d be more than willing to take it slow. He was one he didn’t want to scare off.

The trickiest part was knowing just how much to dress up. Because if he over did it, then things would be uncomfortable. Sans wasn’t the type to dress up much, so naturally he should try to match that. He didn’t have anything quite the level that Sans had. He probably did have a pair of pajama pants he could wear over there, but at the same time he had to wonder if Sans had dressed up for the occasion. He did seem rather worried about it the whole time. But he did relax a little when he had proposed the idea for the date.

But for all he knew, Sans could’ve been dressing up for the occasion anyways in an attempt to impress him. Looking at his closet, he ran into a problem. He was finding too many clothes that he liked. He wasn’t sure how many of them were going to be date appropriate, so that meant that he was going to have to try on so many different outfits and look at them in the mirror. He’d know the right look when he got to it. He just didn’t quite know what angle he wanted to work.

Maybe he’d start at the extreme end of it all. He knew for a fact that he wasn’t going to need to dress all fancy, but that being said he looked damn good in a really nice dress and there was no way that he was going to miss out on a chance to wear one, even if it was just for himself. He’d go from his fanciest clothes to his most casual.

The moment he put on his fanciest dress was the moment that he had also forgotten another important part of his date attire. He was going to have to find the perfect make up to go along with his outfit. But there was also the fact that it would probably come to him as soon as he found the right outfit. There was no use putting the cart before the horse after all. Though he had a feeling that it was also pointing him in the right direction as to what he wanted to wear. He was still enjoying the hell out of rocking the dress though.

He needed to think more casually. It was a quiet date and his house after all, but he still wanted to look nice for him. His dresses were nice, but most were too formal. He had a sundress or two that might be good for the occasion. Given who Sans was, there was also the idea of basically wearing an old pair of pjs that he had kickin around. They were cute and they were modest enough to be wearable to someone’s house. It would be cute to have a matching outfit with Sans, but it also felt a tad silly wearing them out of the house.

He’d take a break and go back to it after. He’d throw himself onto his bed and grab his phone. He’d whine a bit and check social media, and perhaps once he had wasted some time there the perfect idea would come. He was probably just thinking too inside the box is all.

There came a timid knock, and then it was quickly drowned out by a loud one that sounded like it might very well break his door. And there was going to be hell to pay if that happened again. He didn’t even have time to get up before they had let themselves in.

Unsurprisingly, the knocks were Blooky and Maddy. Surprisingly, it was Blooky and Maddy together. It was an odd combination to say the least, as both tried to avoid each other. There wasn’t even time to ask before Maddy was going through his clothes. Blooky seemed rather unsure as to where to do, but ended up following them to the closet to help them look.

“Um. Can I help you?” He was answered with a middle finger from his older sibling. Unsurprising considering how much of an ass they could be. He threw his phone onto his bed and went over to join them in his closet.

“I said can I help you. You are going through my things, in case you haven’t noticed.” His hands were now resting on his hips, and if it was a fight that they wanted, then he was pretty sure he could give Maddy what he wanted. Blooky stopped and pulled his hands back to his chest. It always felt bad having to yell at Blooky, but in this case it was more at his older sibling than anyone. Maddy just seemed inconvenienced by it.

“Look I’m trying to do you a favour for once. Now you gonna let me help? It’s hard enough with the fact I don’t even know the fucker you’re going on a date with. I don’t need you bitching in my ear. Just let me help so you don’t waste an entire evening when the answer is right fuckin there. Now trust your older sibling because I know what I’m doing.” Maddy explained, before going back to sifting through his closet. “Now what kind of date is it anyways? I’m not dressing you all nice to go to some bullshit event and have to patch it back up for you because you ripped it doing god knows what.”

“We’re just going over to his house to watch a movie or two. It’s a really casual date.”

“Now is this actually a date or-“

“We’re doing nothing of the sort! His brother’s probably going to be home, and I’m still getting to know him.” To think they would suggest doing something like that on the first date. He wasn’t dating him for that reason.

“Alright, so an outfit for Netflix with no chill.” They continued flipping through his clothes.

“And he’s not exactly the fashion type of guy. I’ve seen him wear Bee Movie pajama pants to school.” Blooky added in.

“So Netflix no chill with basically most college kids I’ve met.” They glanced over to the bed to see the outfits that he had out already.

“Why the fuck do you have clothes that nice out, fuck. I know that you’ve got a big gay crush on him but you’re gonna scare the poor kid away if you show up dressed that nice. What the fuck were you even thinking?”

“Now who said I was even going to wear those clothes anyways. I was simply trying them on to know how far is too far.”

“Piece of advice: Most dates aren’t black tie. You don’t have to dress that nice. You watching a movie on someone’s couch, not attending the Oscars.” They could honestly be such an ass sometimes. But they were right about how that was indeed way too over the top. But putting it on did give him a good idea of where the limit was for it. And he could’ve found an outfit just fine.

Maddy took one of his older shirts and a casual pair of leggings. They laid them out on his bed, then went over to the jewelry box by his mirror, and grabbed a simple necklace and tossed it on his bed.

“There. That’s the outfit you’ll wanna wear. If you don’t like it, then think of it as a guide line. No pajamas and no black tie dresses. I thought I taught you to dress yourself better than that. If you need any more help, I’ll be in my room.”

“Thanks Maddy,” he turned to face Blooky, who was still standing unsure in the closet, but making their way out now that Maddy was leaving too, “and thank you too Blooky.”

“I didn’t really do anything. I hope you have fun on your date, Mettaton.” They said before rushing out of the room and gently closing the door.

Now that he was alone, he looked over the outfit. He didn’t want to say it, but it was a great outfit. His older sibling was really great at what they did, and he’d give them that, even if they were a complete ass about it most of the time.

But none the less, he was going to look great.


	16. Chapter 16

This was arguably the cleanest he has ever seen the house. It was to the point where He was pretty sure that it wasn’t even this clean when they had bought it, yet here they were. He felt a little afraid to touch anything, because everything was spotless. He was pretty sure that even his room was cleaner than it had been in years, and that was because his brother had put away his clothes for him to be extra sure that they were put away. He felt kinda bad for making his brother do that, but his brother was gone. All that remained was a lean, mean, cleaning machine.

It kinda also smelled like a hospital, but he wouldn’t say anything about that. It was probably just because every surface had been scrubbed down to such a degree, and that he had been sure not to miss an inch. He was pretty sure that Papyrus had passed out for the time being, but he wasn’t sure if he was actually asleep, or if he was just going too quietly wait until his date was over so that he could clean everything again so that there wouldn’t be any potential threats of him getting sick. He’d say something about this being overboard, but there was no stopping him once he started cleaning, and he also looked like he might’ve been enjoying it. So he let him be. He just gently put a blanket over him while he slept because brotherhood was a two way street, and Papyrus did so much for him. He could at the very least make sure that he was comfy.

He hadn’t picked out one of the outfits that Papyrus had laid out, but those were mostly just guidelines.  They were too bold for his own taste, so he made an outfit of his own for the approval of Papyrus, who had a better idea on how dates worked. He wouldn’t say that his shirt choice was awful, but he wasn’t quite sure. Papyrus gave it the okay. It was one of his few plain shirts, and Papyrus had okayed the shorts he was wearing. He wasn’t exactly the most fashionable, but he was certainly doing better than most of the time. Hopefully he wasn’t too terribly underdressed. It was also a little weird to have someone over without his mask, but it was one person, so he’d probably be fine.

As time went on, he was starting to understand why Papyrus cleaned so much. It was a great way to get your mind off of things. He wasn’t so much cleaning as he was reorganizing, but it was a repetitive enough task where it took just enough of his attention so that he could concentrate on that rather than the fact that he had forgotten what time Mettaton was going to arrive, and was too shy to text him for the time. He would much rather continue reorganizing the dvds on the shelf so they were in order alphabetically by director and organized in what order they happened chronologically in the series. He knew that Pap would come by later and put them back in the order that he liked them, but it was a good way to keep himself busy for the time being.

However because of it, he had dropped the case he was putting away when the doorbell rang. He wasn’t sure if he was ready or not. Papyrus wasn’t here to give him a pep talk, and there was no way he was waking him up no matter how bad things were on his end. He just had to bite the bullet and do this. He could do this. Mettaton was just as nervous as he was. He had even said so last night. They were both nervous and that meant he could relax. He just had to answer the door, then they’d watch a movie or two, eat some pizza, and maybe talk a little before he went home. That was doable and he was going to prove it.

He opened the door and was immediately worried he was underdressed. Mettaton looked great. He looked a lot less dressed up than he did for school most days, but that didn’t take away from the fact that he did in fact look really good. He just had to take a deep breath and relax. He liked him too, even if he did dress like a kid most of the time. He just needed to relax.

*”hey mettaton. you look great.” He said, maybe stumbling over his words a bit more than he meant to. He took a step to the side so he could come it. It was a little weird seeing him in his house. He had been there before, but he hadn’t been around to see him.

“Thank you, darling. And you as well, Sans. Blue most certainly is your colour.” Mettaton complimented back. As weird as it was seeing him in his house, it was just as weird seeing him without his shoes one. He was considerably shorter without them, and thinking to the type of shoe that he normally wore, it wasn’t actually surprising. It was being able to look at him without getting a crick in his neck. Though that didn’t matter anyways considering that they were going to be sitting down so there wouldn’t be much of a difference to begin with.

*”thanks, make yourself at home. living room’s just this way.” He closed the door behind him and made his way past Mettaton and the doorway to the kitchen, to the living room just beyond it. It nearly startled him when he looked back to see that Mettaton was close behind. He hadn’t even heard him take a single step. It was weird not hearing the clicks of his heels as he walked.

*”papyrus is probably going to be asleep the whole time you’re over, he kinda spent the whole night cleaning so i was kinda planning on ordering something in. pizza cool with you?”

“That sounds wonderful. I’m not too terribly picky, so you pick whatever’s you like.” He wouldn’t be too terribly adventurous, so he’d probably just stick with cheese. It was hard to go wrong with the basics.

*”cool, i’ll just order it real quick.” He sat down with his phone by the dvd cases. He had the app on his phone, so he wouldn’t have to phone. He’d just place the order really quick, and then he’d pay the delivery guy with cash when he got there. That sounded like a solid plan. They had drinks in the fridge so he didn’t really have to worry about getting any as he ordered.

“So what movie do you have planned?” Mettaton asked after a brief silence as he took a seat on the couch, sitting much like how a confident actress would sit on a late night talk show as he made his way over to the disks.

*”well i was thinking that maybe i’d pick out a few, and then you’d pick from there. me and my bro’ve got a lot of movies, and we can even turn on netflix or something and find a movie on there if there’s nothing you like.”

“So what’ve you got picked out so far?”

*”well you can’t go wrong with star wars, and i’ve also got some other movies where the beauty comes from how bad they are. so i’ve got a few movies there.” There wasn’t really anyone who didn’t like Star Wars, and if they didn’t then they were wrong. The part that he was more worried about was the fact that he had thrown in some bad movies that he personally liked but were just awful movies to begin with.

“Well that Bee Movie one looks pretty interesting. How about that one.” Oh boy he was going to be in for a ride. He’d have to restrain himself, because he could absolutely quote the entire movie right now for him. It was too early on for him to find out just how much of a dirty memer he was. He’d have to show restraint. But he would let himself get excited, because this was most certainly going to be a good one.

*”it’s one of my favorites. it’s the best kind of awful. i’m not going to spoil anything, but it’s so bad. there’s no way you can bee ready for it, trust me.” He couldn’t stop the awful pun that he had to make nor the grin on his face from growing. It was a good taste of what to come, there were so many bad jokes in the movie. Mettaton chuckled a little, but he had no idea how bad it was going to be. He was not ready, and would never be ready.

“Alright, then Bee Movie it is.” He’d put it in and joined him on the couch. This was going to be the best date ever.


	17. Chapter 17

Mettaton’s house was a lot different than he thought it was going to be. It was a nice house, but there was a lot more messy parts to it than he had expected. A lot of it seemed to be art related. There was a lot of sheet music, and a lot what looked like discarded clothing projects that had seemed to be torn at the seams. But there was also a very odd selection of books that were scattered among all the unfinished projects. It was quite the curious collection of goods, but the fact that they were just strewn about willy nilly irked him a little. It made him want to tidy up while he waited for Mettaton to come back with their supplies.

It was a little tricky though. They were right there, and he had nothing better to do. But they weren’t his things to touch. What if whoever left those things there had them placed like that for a reason. He was sure that there had to be some reason, and that Mettaton and his family wasn’t really this messy. Because what if this was just the tip of the iceberg, and that this meant that it’d be so much harder for Sans to come over and visit, because what if they weren’t disinfecting everywhere properly. What if the rest of Mettaton’s family didn’t get vaccinated? This would make everything so much harder for Sans because this would mean that he couldn’t come over to Mettaton’s.

He was probably just worrying too much about this though. Mettaton had proven to be a responsible boyfriend so far. There was no proof aside from a little cluttered table to think otherwise. And even then he would admit that he was being unfair in at least this one occasion. He was pretty sure that Sans got along fairly well with Mettaton’s cousin. He couldn’t exactly think of their name right now, but it was probably safe to say that all of Mettaton’s family was safe for Sans to be around.

Now he felt a bit bad for assuming the worst about all this. He had been invited into their home and he was behaving like this? Positively shameful. Almost as shameful as forgetting the names of one of you colleagues like he had. Mettaton’s cousin was probably a wonderful person, and while they were a very shy guy, that was no excuse for forgetting their name. He’d have to work on remembering it.

But his time to remember would be cut short, as he had already been rude and Mettaton was back. He just had to hope that he wouldn’t run into his cousin here, because that would be a very awkward situation indeed.

“Sorry to keep you waiting like that, darling. My older sibling was critiquing our choice for materials and I had to remind him that this was a school project and that our supplies were limited.”

“SO DOES THAT MEAN THAT THEY’RE GOING TO ALLOW IT?”

“Our project right now? Yes, but he’s going to go have a word with the teacher about this. I can’t say I blame them, the materials are rather limited to work with.”

“BUT THAT’S WHERE THE CHALLENGE COMES FROM! IT WOULDN’T TEST YOUR SKILLS OR TEACH YOU ABOUT THE LIMITS OF THE FABRIC IF YOU WERE ALLOWED TO JUST USE ANYTHING YOU WANTED. I FOR ONE COMMEND HER FOR GETTING US TO TAKE A MORE HANDS ON APPROACH TO OUR LEARNING. IT’S FAR MORE PRODUCTIVE TO MAKE SOMETHING WITH OUR HANDS TO LEARN THAN TO JUST WRITE DOWN ON NOTES, WOULDN’T YOU SAY?”

“I suppose these is some merit to it, but that doesn’t mean that I enjoy having to do it.” Mettaton groaned, pushing aside the assortment of things on the table to put their project on it.

“OH! I’M SORRY, I SHOULD’VE CLEARED OFF THE TABLE FOR YOU. I WASN’T SURE IF I WAS ALLOWED TO MOVE THE THINGS ON THERE OR NOT.” He was being the worst guest out there! He had forgotten a name he really should’ve known, and he had failed to clear the table for him!

“Oh it’s fine. I should’ve tidied up a bit more. So what size clothes does your brother wear?”

“USUALLY HE WEARS A SMALL, BUT SOMETIMES HE GETS AWAY WITH WEARING AN EXTRA LARGE IN KIDS SIZES. HE’S A LOT SMALLER THAN HE LOOKS, BUT THAT’S MOSTLY BECAUSE HE LIKES TO WEAR LAYERS. WE COULD PROBABLY MAKE IT A TOUCH BIGGER SO THAT HE CAN WEAR STUFF UNDER IT.”

“I have to admit, it was a bit weird seeing him without his jacket. It’s really quite bulky.”

“IT’S FUNNY, BECAUSE SANS MADE A COMMENT ABOUT IT ODD SEEING YOU OUT OF HEELS. HE JOKED ABOUT YOU TWO ALMOST BEING THE SAME HEIGHT WITHOUT THEM.”

“So what else has he been saying about me? All good things, I hope.”

“OH YES, SANS IS COMPLETELY SMITTEN WITH YOU. MY ONLY ISSUE IS THAT HE’S DOING THE THING HE ALWAYS DOES AND THINKS HE’S NOT DOING A GOOD ENOUGH JOB. YOU HAVE TO PROMISE ME THAT YOU’LL HELP HIM OUT AND MAKE SURE THAT HE DOESN’T BREAK THINGS OFF BECAUSE HE THINKS HE’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH! THERE’S ONLY SO MUCH THAT CONFIDENCE JOGS AROUND THE BLOCK YELLING ABOUT HOW GREAT HE IS.” He wasn’t sure when it happened, but he was now holding Mettaton by his shoulders.

“Not to sound rude, but how do you want me to do that, exactly?”

“YOU NEED TO COMPLIMENT HIM! YOU NEED TO TELL HIM HE’S DOING A GOOD JOB, AND YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT HE KNOWS ALL THE GOOD THINGS YOU SEE IN HIM. HE’LL GET EMBARRASSED, BUT IT NEEDS TO HAPPEN. YOU NEED TO LET MY BROTHER KNOW THAT YOU THINK HE’S AS GREAT AS HE THINKS YOU ARE! BUT YOU’LL NEED TO FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE, BECAUSE IF YOU OVER DO IT, YOU’LL PROBABLY SCARE HIM OFF.”

“Maybe it would be best to ease into it slowly, so that he can get used to it? That way once he’s gotten used to it, I can complement him as much as my heart desires.”

“YES! THAT’S PERFECT! THOUGH WE STILL NEED TO GET HIM PASSED THE POINT OF ACCEPTING COMPLIMENTS. I LOVE MY BROTHER AND HE HAS A LOT OF STRONG SUITS, BUT ACCEPTING PRAISE IS NOT ONE OF THEM!”

“No worries, darling. I’ve had plenty of practice complimenting people like that. Blooky’s the exact same way.”

Blooky was a nickname, but it was ringing a bell. That had to be close to what his cousin’s name was. He was going to be so disappointed in himself if he had to go and ask Sans for his name later. He could figure this out. If the name came out in casual conversation, then that would be fine. He’d still like to do this on his own though.

“EXCELLENT. BUT THAT ASIDE, WE REALLY NEED TO GET BACK ON SCHEDULE. WE ARE VERY FAR BEHIND, AND THERE’S NO TIME TO WASTE, EVEN IF THIS CONVERSATION IS VERY IMPORTANT, WE STILL HAVE THINGS WE MUST FINISH!” This was the whole reason that he had come here in the first place. It would be counterproductive to just talk when they could be working.

“Very true. Now seeing as you’re Sans’s brother, I’m sure you know what colour look best on him, but I’m thinking we do some light yellows on him. I feel like it’ll really make his eyes pop.”

“METTATON YOU’RE OVER LOOKING A VERY IMPORTANT DETAIL ABOUT MY BROTHER. AND THAT’S THAT HIS EYES AREN’T THE SAME COLOUR. THE YELLOW WOULD BE NICE, BUT WHAT ABOUT HIS OTHER EYE? IT’LL BE WEIRD IF ONLY ONE EYE POPS.”

“That will make things tricky, won’t it.” Mettaton hummed a bit.

“IF YOU MUST KNOW, THE BEST COLOURS FOR SANS ARE BLUE AND GOLD. IF YOU REALLY WANT HIS EYES TO POP, THEN THOSE ARE THE COLORS WE NEED. I CAN GUARENTEE.”

Mettaton drug over the two colours, and laid them by the design they had. He mulled it over a second, switching between the two. Papyrus leaned over and then switched the blue and the gold around, picking a lighter shade of blue for the main parts.

“I think you just might be onto something here. Now the only issue is the size.”

“WE CAN MAKE IT A LITTLE BIGGER, AND THEN BRING IT OVER TO MY PLACE AND HAVE SANS TRY IT ON AND GO FROM THERE.”

“Are you sure he won’t mind?”

“I DON’T THINK HE’LL MIND AT ALL, NYEH HEH HEH.”


	18. Chapter 18

It had been a good day. He couldn’t say that he was exactly use to the fame of dating one of, if not the most popular students in the school. It came at the price of a lot of unwanted attention, but also came with the benefit of getting to spend more time with Mettaton. And that was nice.

But there was the problem of a second date that needed to be brought up, and what did one do with a boyfriend anyways? Maybe he’d watch some dumb romcoms or something and mess around on the internet to find some answers. They probably wouldn’t be the best answers, but at the very least he would have something to go off of. Maybe a question or two to Mettaton to get a clean answer on this. He was sorta the resident expert on this sort of thing.

Alphys could probably give him some solid advice. She had been in a relationship for over a year now. Undyne was always an option, but her approach to things was closer to Pap’s. He loved his brother, but the way he did things didn’t usually work all too well for him. He didn’t have the energy for it. Alphys usually operated on the same low energy vibe that he did, so maybe she would be the person to turn to.

Actually, now that he was thinking about it, she probably had better advice than any show he could watch. He had had his afterschool shower so he had no other things to do that evening, he just needed to keep an ear out for Papyrus, who was out doing work for a school project of some kind. He had his phone at the ready, so he saw no reason not to.

“Oh, hey Sans. Are you calling to tell me what you thought about that new series that just came out because honestly its trash they took a perfectly good concept and they ruined it with flat characters and endless exposition I know that it was only the first episode but honestly that was the most boring protagonist that I have ever seen he has hard to read motives and he had no reason to be that strong I can only deal with so much and I had such high hopes for the anime because I like a lot of the anime that come out of that studio and to see them drop the ball so badly is just disappointing.” She took a sharp breath in to make up for that rant that she had just sent herself on. It seems as though that this was his turn to talk now.

*“actually, i was calling for some advice on relationships.” There was an awkward pause as she realized that she had jumped the gun a tad.

“Oh…. Well… What did you want to know?”

*“how do i keep one. i know we go on dates, but what do we do other than that?”

“It’s best if you just treat it like any relationship. You talk, you find things to do together, and it’s fine if you don’t spend all your time with them. You and Mettaton should find something to bond over, that might make it easier. Me and Undyne personally found that having a night once a week were we go over to each other’s houses in our pajamas and watch anime and eat pizza. I bet you and Mettaton could find something like that. You’re both really into musicals, maybe that could be your thing? You just search them up on youtube or something, and then if you pick a bad one, you can just tear it apart.” She paused a second to continue.

“But that being said, that’s just how I’ve done relationships. You and Mettaton could find something completely different, or fine a new way that works. The only important part about this, is that you’re both yourselves in this relationship. If you’re not, It’s just gonna fall apart. That’s not so much from my own experience, but it’s a really common romantic plotline and I’m not really all that sure of how well you paid attention in those scenes so it’s worth bringing up. But just let things grow naturally. You guys are going to make mistakes no matter what. No relationship is perfect. Me and Undyne had had a few nasty fights, but you just need to remember to communicate, and to let things cool down a bit before you talk again after a fight. You’ll do yourselves no favors if you’re both still too mad to think things through. I don’t think I have any more knowledge for you. That’s all I got.”

Shit. He really should’ve been writing this down. That was a lot of information to just dole out at once. He knew he had asked for it, but he wasn’t really ready for all that had been just dropped on him. He doubted that anyone out there would be. He supposed that if the occasion arose, that she wouldn’t mind telling him again.

*“thanks alphys. that was a lot of stuff, but i think i got it all.”

“Sorry, I might’ve over done it just a tad.”

*”no worries. i was the one who asked for the advice. and you gave it to me. how could i be upset about that. but i think i’ll go check out that series you were talking about. maybe it’ll be the kind of bad that i like.”

“Maybe, but I don’t think it’s the same kind at all. But if you don’t end up liking it, we can all get together and tear it apart sometime.”

*”sounds like a plan. later.”

“Bye.”

Just as the call ended, he heard the front door open. He could hear Papyrus talking to someone. He was sure that they weren’t expecting company, because if they were, then he would’ve been told beforehand.

“SANS! WE NEED TO BORROW YOU FOR A SECOND.” Hopefully it would mean he could stay in his spot, because he had already made himself comfy on the couch.

*”i’m in the living room, pap.” He called, setting his phone down on his stomach and tilting his head back to get a view on who was coming in.

In a legitimately surprising turn of events, there was Mettaton next to his brother. He was glad that he had set the bar for his attire so low that it didn’t matter at this point that he was staring up at his now boyfriend while he was in his pajamas. Who knew that dressing like a slob would actually pay off for him like it did. It was honestly incredible.

“Hey there, cute pants.”

*”thanks, hard to go wrong with bones.”

“SANS, I’M CASHING IN THAT FAVOR YOU OWE ME.”

*”unfortunate.”

“WE NEED YOU TO BE THE MODEL FOR OUR DRESS FOR FASHIONS. NEITHER ME NOR METTATON COULD CHOOSE ON WHICH ONE OF US SHOULD WEAR THE DRESS, SO THEN WE DECIDED THAT NEITHER OF US SHOULD. YOU LOST THAT GAME OF MARIO CART FAIR AND SQUARE, SO NOW YOU OWE ME A FAVOR.”

*”so that means i just gotta wear a dress and stand for some people?”

“ITS NOT MUCH OF A FAVOR, BUT IT WOULD HELP US OUT A LOT.”

“We also need you to try it on now so that we can make sure that it fits properly.”

*”i supposed i could do that.” That unfortunately meant that he had to get up off of the couch. The things he put up with for the people he loved.

*”can i just put it over my clothes, or do i actually need to go change for real?”

“WE CAN WORK AROUND YOUR SHIRT, BUT YOU CAN’T WEAR YOUR JACKET OVER IT. WE DID MAKE IT SO THAT IT WAS PERFECTLY FINE FOR YOU TO WEAR SHORTS UNDER IT.”

*”i suppose i can go sans jacket for this.” He might get a little chilly at school, but it wasn’t for very long that he’d have to go without it. His brother rolled his eyes at the pun, and handed him the dress. It didn’t really matter to him what it looked like, he didn’t really have the attire, and this was a favor that he owed. He’d just slip the dress over what he was wearing.

“Oh my, Papyrus was right. This shade of blue with the gold really makes his eyes pop nicely.” It was weird that a comment like that could make him bashful. Yet here he was awkwardly avoiding eye contact with him. It felt a bit rude considering what the comment was about, but he couldn’t help it.

“I didn’t even know it was possible for you to get any cuter, but look at you.”

“OH MY GOD! YOU CAN FLIRT WITH MY BROTHER AFTER WE’RE DONE WORKING!”


End file.
